World-Class Airport Cluster to Be Built in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei

A world-class airport cluster will be established in Beijing and its two neighboring areas - Tianjin municipality and Hebei province, promoting regional integrated development, China Securities Journal reported.

A guideline, which aims to push forward coordinated development of civil aviation in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area (or Jing-Jin-Ji in their abbreviations), was approved at a meeting presided by Feng Zhenglin, head of the Civil Aviation Administration, on Monday.

Airspace integration and comprehensive transportation connectivity will be basically achieved in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region by 2030, building a more powerful policy guarantee system, the guideline said.

A total of 23 tasks were put forward to build a world-class airport cluster and aviation hub, serving the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei city cluster, according to the guideline.

In order to achieve this goal, the guideline also set up two timelines: structural adjustment period (2016-2019) and all-round upgrade period (2020-2030).

Beijing's two existing airports have reached their maximum handling capacities and so the capital city is building its third civil airport - the Daxing International Airport - which will be the second-largest airport in the city, following the Beijing Capital International Airport.

The facility, located adjacent to Daxing district in Beijing and Langfang in the neighboring Hebei province, will involve 79.98 billion yuan ($13.11 billion) of investment and take about five years to complete, according to the National Development and Reform Commission.

The airport is designed to handle 72 million passengers, 2 million tons of cargo, and 620,000 planes in 2025.

Meanwhile, Tianjin Binhai International Airport and Shijiazhuang Zhengding International Airport have already taken measures to diversify their services and facilitate journeys.

China unveiled coordinated development plans for Beijing and its two neighboring areas - Tianjin municipality and Hebei province - in 2015. Under the plans, China will build Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei into an international city cluster and "create a new growth engine" by boosting technological innovation in the area.