Airport Authority together with the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of Zhuhai city's government has jointly managed Zhuhai Airport since 2006. Benefiting from cooperation, Zhuhai Airport witnesses an annual throughput of 11 million passengers.
Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport is the aviation hub for south China. As the dominant airline in the southern part of China, China Southern Airlines is determined to boost the competitiveness of airports in Guangzhou and Shenzhen as international hubs, Wang Changshun, the chairman of the company said.
To cultivate Guangzhou into a Canton Route international hub, China Southern Airlines has launched new routes and increased frequencies to strengthen key centers in Europe and Oceania, increase its impact over North America, the Middle East and Africa, and cover Southeast Asia, South Asia and Asia, said Wang.
Macao International Airport is positioned as small- and medium-sized airport, said Vicki Mou, chief of corporate communication &policy research office of Macao International Airport. Besides regional business aircraft services, the airport focuses on Southeast Asian market, connecting Macao and many attractions in the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia and some other Southeast Asian countries, which enriches international routes in the Greater Bay Area, said Mou.
AN AEROTROPOLIS WITH HIGH ECONOMIC EFFICIENCY
"Our vision is to engineer our city's airport to become an aerotropolis with high economic efficiency and diversified employment opportunities," said Carrie Lam, chief executive of the Hong Kong SAR.
Hong Kong is gearing up to play an even more important role in the aviation sector. Hong Kong International Airport currently has two runways and began its three-runway system construction in 2016.
The new whole three-runway system will come into operation in 2024 together with a new passenger building, a new automated people mover, a new baggage handling system and expansion of the existing Terminal 2 into a full-service processing terminal.
The revamped airport will be able to accommodate 620,000 flight movements annually, welcoming about 100 million passengers and handling some 9 million tonnes of cargo a year, said deputy director of airport operations Cheung.
Last year, the Hong Kong section of Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link and Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge was inaugurated, further tying up the Hong Kong SAR and the Chinese mainland.
With its airport sitting right at the heart of the "double gateway" linking the Greater Bay Area at one end and to the world at the other, Hong Kong offers seamless air-to-land and air-to-sea connections with a huge number of nearby destinations.
To build a smart aerotropolis, Hong Kong has introduced innovative measures, such as inter-modal code-sharing arrangements. "With one ticket in hand, passengers can first take a high-speed ferry to arrive at Hong Kong International Airport from other cities in Greater Bay Area, and then take our flights directly. The customs clearance and luggage will be arranged at the pier," said Cathay Pacific's Loo.
This service enables travelers to use the same air ticket to continue their journeys to different Chinese mainland destinations or vice versa by ferries and it will soon be extended to coaches or trains, according to Loo.
Smart aerotropolis demands equally innovative talents. In that regard, the Hong Kong International Aviation Academy, established in 2017, has already trained more than 10 000 industry participants, which helps to share our experience with our peers, Cheung from Airport Authority added.
With the help of Hong Kong's strengths in financial and logistics, we will continue to develop high value-added freight, such as electronics, fruits and flowers to gain high profits, Law from the Chinese University of Hong Kong said.
