Guangzhou's new international airport, being called a rival to Hong Kong's Chek Lap Kok International Airport, will officially begin operations on June 29 -- on schedule.

Local government officials hope the airport will be the catalyst needed to transform the metropolis into a new aviation hub in Asia.

Guangzhou's officials hope their city will one day compete with the neighboring Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport has been operating for more than seven decades. It will close on June 28 after the last plane departs.

Guangzhou's municipal government established a special taskforce to oversee the transfer of operations to the new airport, which is expected to be the nation's most advanced airport.

The task force is responsible for mapping out a detailed plan to ensure the smooth transfer to the new airport.

Construction of the new facility cost more than 20 billion yuan (US$2.4 billion). It is nearly complete.

The interior of the terminal is now being decorated.

The zone for flights around the airport was determined last month. Trial flights will begin within weeks.

Liu Zijing, board chairman of the airport, said additional international flights will be added after the facility becomes operational.

The new airport will have two runways, which, officials expect, will ensure the airport will accommodate more than 40 international flights within three years, he said.

Officials expect 19 overseas airlines will use the new airport.

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

Ten overseas airlines -- from the United States, Europe, Southeast Asia and Hong Kong -- operate international flights to Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport.

Officials of the airport and the city's municipal government last year established a group to explore ways of attracting offshore airlines, and to examine the international aviation market and expand co-operation with foreign counterparts.

Air France, one of Europe's biggest airlines, has begun operating an international flight between Guangzhou and Paris.

The route was launched on January 6.

"Many foreign airlines are now talking with us about operating international flights to Guangzhou after the new airport opens," Liu said.

Liu refused to elaborate.

Guangzhou-based China Southern Airlines, one of the nation's three major airlines, plans to increase its international flights to the rest of the world after the new airport begins service, Liu said.

Guangzhou's new airport is expected to accommodate more than 25 million passengers annually by 2010, and more than 1 million tons of cargo.

More than 186,500 planes will arrive at and depart from the airport each year.

The current airport has been overloaded, Liu said.

The existing airport, with only one runway, accommodates 107 domestic flights to 77 cities on the Chinese mainland.

The airport last year handled more than 16 million passengers and 600,000 tons of cargo. More than 140,000 planes arrived at or departed from the airport.

The new airport is expected to strengthen Guangzhou's status as an international aviation hub in southern China, which includes the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions, Liu said.

The aviation market in the prosperous Pearl River Delta area will have great potential in the next several years, due to the region's fast and stable economic growth and surging foreign investment, Liu said.

Officials of the new airport are seeking further co-operation with airports in Hong Kong, Macao and the special economic zones in Guangdong Province, Liu said.

Last year, the five airports, despite being competitors, signed an agreement to expand their ties and co-operation.

Under the pact, airplanes can be quickly diverted to any of the airports in the event of an emergency.

The five airports are located within a 150-kilometre radius. They have been connected by expressways and/or railways.

(China Daily March 9, 2004)