The new Guangzhou international airport, regarded as a rival to Hong Kong's Chek Lap Kok International Airport, will open on June 29 next year when the current Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport -- that has been operating for more than seven decades -- formally ends service on June 28.

Construction on the new airport, which costs more than 20 billion yuan (US$2.4 billion), is basically complete; interior decoration is being in the terminal building, and trial flights are scheduled for October.

According to Liu Zijing, chairman of the board of Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport Co, two runways have been planned for the new airport to increase daily international flights to more than 40 within three years after it starts operation; and the number of overseas airlines will grow to 19.

Currently, Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport operates 22 international flights daily to 20 destinations.

Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport Co and the Guangzhou municipal government jointly established a leading group earlier this year to focus on attracting more offshore airlines, exploring the international aviation market and expanding co-operation with foreign counterparts.

"Many foreign airlines are now talking with us on flights to Guangzhou after the new airport starts service," Liu said, but refused to give more details on the foreign airlines which are currently in talks.

Guangzhou-based China Southern Airlines also plans to increase international flights when the new airport begins service, Liu said.

By 2010, the airport will reach passenger volume of more than 25 million annually and cargo of over 1 million tons.

The current airport, one of the three busiest in China, is overstretched, Liu said. It has only one runway which handles 107 domestic flights to 77 mainland cities daily; and more than 16 million passengers and 590,000 tons of cargo last year.

The new airport is expected to fortify Guangzhou's status as an international aviation hub in the southern Chinese region that includes Hong Kong and Macao, Liu said.

(China Daily HK Edition September 19, 2003)