Expanded airport takes flight with new facilities

As the venue of the 2008 Olympic sailing competition, Qingdao is expecting an enormous influx of visitors from home and abroad.

To meet the demand, Qingdao International Airport Group, operator of the facility, has made a range of preparations to be a genial host for the anticipated surge in passenger numbers.

To provide a welcoming environment, airport authorities invested 1.19 billion yuan in renovating and extending runways, the air terminal and the aircraft apron area.

After three years of construction, all facilities had passed inspection by the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China at the end of last December and have proven their operational readiness after three months of trial operations.

The airport now provides an ideal first impression for those arriving to watch or compete in the upcoming Olympic sailing competition, said Liu Yuliang, general manager of the company.

Extended runways can now accommodate large passenger jets such as the Boeing 777. The expanded apron covers 390,000 sq m and has 39 gates. Annual passenger capacity is expected to grow to 12 million arrivals, Liu said.

The 110,000 sq m terminal was put into trial operation in late October 2007 after it was finished at a cost of 998 million yuan.

The complex includes 33 international and 15 domestic counters along with customs and security areas.

The airport handled 7.8 million passengers last year, an increase of 140 percent from 2002, making Qingdao the fourth-busiest hub in east China, following Shanghai, Hangzhou and Xiamen.

The Qingdao airport serves 78 domestic flights to 47 Chinese cities and 14 international arrivals from eight overseas cities. More than 1,400 flights take off from and land at the airport weekly.

As part of its preparations, the airport group also plans to launch an online website before the Olympics to offer information on the airport, its flights and Olympic events.

(China Daily 04/02/2008 page24)