Airspace management reform urged(2)

The Guangzhou Baiyun airport is a little up in the north, but flights leaving the four airports for northern destinations all have to fly over Baiyun airport, adding to the problems there, he said.

Many people wonder why the airports were built so close to each other. Ouyang said that is due to complicated factors, involving "historical reasons".

"Shenzhen, a pioneer of China's reform and opening-up efforts, which started more than 30 years ago, tried to cooperate with the Hong Kong airport, but the different social systems and border policies made it impossible," he said.

Hong Kong returned to China in 1997. Shenzhen, unable to wait for an airport to boost economic development, built an airport that opened in 1991.

It was a similar case in Zhuhai, which opened its airport in 1995, though it had mulled cooperating with Macao, which did not return to China until 1999, he said.

Ouyang believes that the only way for the five airports to survive in the region is if they have different functions, like the five airports in the Greater London area.

Zhuhai airport has the weakest performance among the five airports in the Pearl River Delta, as its planned scale is found to have surpassed the actual needs of the city's population of 600,000.

A blessing in disguise for Zhuhai is that its redundant capacity has allowed it to host a biennial air show and develop general aviation flights, which refers to all civil aviation activities except for scheduled flights, he said.

However, the competition between Guangzhou and Shenzhen airports needs more attention, he said.

As the Hong Kong airport is an international air hub and the Macao airport aims to attract leisure tourists, intense competition exists mainly between Guangzhou and Shenzhen, with both seeking development in passengers and cargo transportation, he said.

Coordination between the two airports will be difficult, since the two are run by two separate and independent corporations, he said.

Expansion needed

Expanding the airspace is also urgent, experts said.

The scarce airspace available for civil use has been noted by the government, especially when China's civil aviation industry is still developing at a rapid pace, said Li with the Comprehensive Transport Institute.

Air passengers throughout China last year were 620 million, and that number is estimated to double by 2020.

Airports, fleets and air routes all have to expand to meet the demand, he said.

"It's not just a problem for Guangzhou. The same problem exists in Beijing, Wuhan and Changsha," Li said.

According to a draft plan on the development of the civil aviation industry issued by the Hunan provincial authorities, 21 more general aviation airports will be built in the Central China province before 2030, the Changsha Evening News reported on Thursday.

In neighboring Hubei province, nine airports will be built in the next 18 years, increasing the total number of airports in the province to 13.

In Wuhan, Hubei's provincial capital, a second airport will be built, according to local media reports.

"Though the negotiation process over airspace will be time-consuming and difficult, it will work out finally. It has to," Li said.