The Chinese government recently gave the go-ahead for the start of construction of a new international airport for the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou.
The Chinese government recently gave the go-ahead for the start of construction of a new international airport for the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou.
According to a report from the Yicai Global on December 23, 2024 the construction for the new airport project – referred to as the Pearl River Delta Hub Airport (Guangzhou New) – has been accelerated after the city of Guangzhou announced the approval for the start of construction on December 20, 2024. Other reports from outlets from the South China Morning Post stated preliminary construction has already started since December 25, 2024.
The new airport will be located around 60 kilometers southwest of Guangzhou in the Gaoming District of the neighboring city of Foshan. Scheduled for opening in 2028, the first phase of the Guangzhou New Airport project will feature two runways, a 370,000sqm passenger terminal, and rail links to Guangzhou and the surrounding areas. The airport will be designed to accommodate 30 million passengers/500,000 tonnes of cargo by 2035, and 60 million passengers/2 million tonnes by 2050.
Guangzhou New will be the second major airport for the Guangzhou metro area where its currently served by Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport – the second busiest airport in China (76.345 million passengers in 2024) and home to China Southern Airlines. Once completed, Guangzhou will be the third major city in China with two megahub airports following China's capital city of Beijing (Beijing-Capital/Daxing) and Shanghai (Pudong and Hongquiao).
New Airport in China's Greater Bay Area
The Guangzhou New Airport will be an addition to the busy airspace within China's Greater Bay Area. Comprising of cities in the country's southern province of Guandong such as Guangzhou and the tech hub of Shenzhen, and the Hong Kong and Macao Special Administrative Regions (SARs), the region is also the largest and most populated urban area not just in China but globally with over 86 million residents.
Within the Greater Bay Area, at least five major airports can be found within a 200 kilometers radius. Three of which - Hong Kong, Guangzou-Baiyun, and Shenzhen-Bao'an – served over 40 million passengers in 2023. Each are major aviation hubs not just in China and Asia, but also globally. Cargo is also a major factor, where Hong Kong Airport leads in terms as a global cargo hub.
Already the second busiest airport in China behind Shanghai's Pudong Airport, Guangzhou-Baiyun expansion work is ongoing at the current hub of the city which is already reaching its designed capacity of 80 million. With the expansion work, Baiyun Airport's capacity is expected to be increased to 120 million passengers per year.
Hong Kong's airport has also undergone expansion work within the last decade under its Three Runway Project. Despite delays due the COVID-19 pandemic, Hong Kong International Airport recently opened its third runway. Expansion work of Terminal 2 is still ongoing.
Competition within the Greater Bay Area
While within a close proximity to each other, the major cities within China's Greater Bay Area are in a competition among themselves to enhance their aviation infrastructure. Lead by the Hong Kong SAR and Guangzhou, these cities are first addressing their own needs to boost passenger and cargo capacity. As Hong Kong continues to make its airport into a bigger megahub, Guangzhou will have the added benefit of two megahubs with a combined passenger capacity close to 200 million.
Both cities aviation markets are still recovering from the pandemic, and with more capacity the skies over the Greater Bay Area will be even more busy in the future.
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