China's NDRC to approve more than 20 new airport projects this year

FOLLOWING approval of projects worth nearly CNY1 trillion (US$158.5 billion), China National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) has given approval to the feasibility of the expansion of the Ningbo's Lishe International Airport and Shijiazhuang's Zhengding International Airport, reports the China Securities Journal.

Since the beginning of the year, the NDRC and Ministry of Environmental Protection have picked up their pace in the approvals of airports and have given green light to over 20 airport building, expansion and relocation projects, entailing an investment sum of over CNY100 billion.

Commenting on the losses of some existing airports, experts suggest that more private investors should be allowed in airport projects to enhance airports' profit-making ability.

Airport projects winning NDRC approval this year included 11 new ones, eight expansions and one relocation. If these projects are all completed, China's air passenger throughput will increase by 150 million persons by 2020.

The public information from the Ministry of Environmental Protection show that it has approved the environmental assessment reports of new airports in Jiangxi's Shangrao, Inner Mongolia's Holingol, Xilingol, Alxa League and Sichuan's Aba. According to the approval application process, the projects will be shovel-ready after their feasibility and environment assessment reports have been approved.

Calculated based on raw data from NDRC, Ministry of Environmental Protection and local government websites, the report said the above approved projects will cost over CNY100 billion. Most of the new airports will be located in western provinces of Gansu, Qinghai, Xinjiang, Sichuan and northeastern province Heilongjiang. Expansion airports are in provincial capitals or direct-controlled cities like Wuhan, Nanning, Chongqing, Harbin, Hakou and Ningbo.

According to China's 12th Five-year Plan (2011 to 2015), by the end of 2015, China will finished building 82 new airports to bring the total in operation to about 230, 80 per cent of the people in China will have access to airports within 100 kilometres.