The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) is working with related departments to build the new Baiyun International Airport in Guangzhou a modern pivotal airport in south China.

The CAAC is focusing on the construction of China's three major airports after the restructuring of three domestic aviation groups. The airports are the Beijing Capital Airport, the Shanghai Pudong Airport and Guangzhou Baiyun Airport.

According to CAAC, Beijing Capital Airport will cooperate with Air China, and Shanghai Pudong Airport with China Eastern Airlines in the construction process, while Guangzhou Baiyun Airport will coordinate with China Southern Airlines.

The CAAC has decided to invest 660 million yuan for building three air transportation administration centers across China, namely in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.

The new Guangzhou Baiyun airport, designed by U.S.-based Parsons Corp. and URS Greiner Corp, and the Guangdong Provincial Architectural Design Institute, can accommodate the world's largest planes, such as Boeing 747s.

Currently, two runways have been completed, providing 860,000 square meters of tarmac capable of handling 60 planes at a time.

The cost estimate of the airport is 19.6 billion yuan, 49 percent of which will be covered by the Guangzhou Transport Investment Co. Ltd. The first-phase construction will cost about 10 billion yuan.

By 2010, when the airport is finished, it will be able to handle 80 million arrivals and departures and one million tons of cargo annually.

(People's Daily 08/14/2001)