China's National Development and Reform Commission have approved a feasibility study report for the completion of Zhongwei Xiangshan Airport in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, with total investment of CNY350 million.

The Civil Aviation Administration of China and the National Development and Reform Commission will give CNY140 million and CNY86.2 million respectively as construction funds for Zhongwei Xiangshan Airport.

Zhongwei Xiangshan Airport is located in the northwest of Zhongwei and is nine kilometers from the city. It covers an area of 2,745 mu, and is 4.6 kilometers long. Its location is in the central area of China, and a single flight from there to most of the major cities around the country will take less than three hours. The main phase of the airport project is scheduled to be completed at the end of August, and it is expected to be opened by this October. Routes are planned from Zhongwei to Beijing, Xi'an, Lanzhou, Chengdu, and Yinchuan at the start of operations, and then flights will be launched to Guangzhou, Shanghai, Urumqi, and Xiamen.

The airport is expected to meet the requirements of handling 150,000 passengers and 400 tons of cargo, with regional aircraft such as Boeing 737s and Airbus A320s taking off and landing by 2015.

(China Hospitality News August 1, 2008)