New Beijing Airport to involve investment of USD11bn, include seven runways

China's New Beijing Airport will involve investment of at least CNY70 billion (USD10.9 billion) and include six runways for civil aircraft as well as a seventh runway for military use, according to assistant director of the airport construction office Zhu Wenxin and as reported by CAAC-News and Shanghai Daily. The new airport, which was approved by the State Council and Central Military Commission on 22-Dec-2012, is scheduled to be constructed between 2014 and 2016 and commence operations at the end of 2018 with capacity for 40 million passengers initially and increasing to 70 million by 2025. It is expected to have capacity for 200 million passengers eventually. As previously reported, Beijing Capital International Airport, which has been the second busiest airport in the world for three consecutive years, handled 81.8 million passengers in 2012. In Dec-2012, CAAC named Shijiazhuang Airport as the main diversion airport for Beijing Capital prior to the completion of the new Beijing Airport. Shijiazhuang Airport is currently nearing completion of its CNY4000 million (USD625 million) expansion project. The civil aviation authority is also encouraging Beijing Nanyuan, Tianjin and Shijiazhuang airports to share the traffic from Beijing to second and third tier cities in China. The Beijing region is expected to handle 126 million passengers, 3.0 million tonnes of cargo and 770,000 aircraft movements p/a by 2015. Spring Airlines spokesperson Zhang Wuan said the carrier is in talks with the new airport management to gain slots at the airport, adding the new airport should meet the demand of domestic carriers as all routes to/from Beijing are among the most popular.