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4th Pudong runway opens in March

2015-01-28 10:08 Shanghai Daily Web Editor: Mo Hong'e
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Pudong International Airport's fourth runway will open in March, the airport authority said Tuesday.

This will reduce the taxiing time aircraft have to take before takeoff and cut delays, Li Derun, president of the Shanghai Airport Authority, told the Shanghai People's Congress, the city's legislative body.

"Sometimes aircraft have to taxi from Terminal 2 to runway No. 1 near Terminal 1, which wastes a lot of time," added Li, who is also a legislator.

The fourth runway, which is 3,800 meters long and 60 meters wide, was approved in 2011 and work began the following year.

With the new runway, the airport's annual capacity is expected to reach 60 million passengers with 555,000 takeoffs and landings a year.

Currently, a fifth runway is being built next to the fourth.

The two runways will cost a total of 9.4 billion yuan (US$1.5 billion), said the airport authority.

Li told lawmakers the runway was delayed by a lengthy government approval process. He called for this to be simplified.

Other upgrades at Pudong include a 500,000-square-meter satellite terminal building to the south of the existing terminals due to open this year. It will include 119 gates — adding to the 70 at Terminals 1 and 2.

Li said currently at the Pudong airport many passengers had to board on the apron.

The fourth and fifth runways will also provide a testing ground for the Chinese-made C919 narrow-body aircraft and China's ARJ21 regional jet.

The fourth runway is 440 meters east of the second runway, while the fifth will be 1,750 meters east of the fourth.

 

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