Beijing to build second major airport

In a picture taken on Dec 20, 2010, executive jets are parked on the tarmac of Beijing International airport. Beijing plans to build a major airport in the next five years, according to a statement. -- PHOTO: AFP

BEIJING - BEIJING plans to build a second major airport in the next five years to keep up with an explosion in air travel in the fast-growing economy, according to a statement received by AFP on Wednesday.

State media said the airport was expected to handle 60 million passengers a year, easing pressure on the existing Beijing Capital International Airport - the world's second busiest hub with 73.9 million passengers last year.

The project has not yet been approved by the central government, the Beijing Municipal Commission of Development and Reform said in the statement.

But Li Jiaxiang, head of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), underlined the need to alleviate the pressure on the Chinese capital's existing international hub.

'It is very urgent that we start building the second (major) airport in Beijing now,' he was quoted as saying in the China Daily.

'It is now impossible to add even one more flight to the tight daily schedule of the capital airport.' Beijing already has two commercial airports - the international airport in the north-east and a smaller domestic airfield in the south. -- AFP