Beijing's neighbors upgrade standby airports for Olympics
12/12/2007 17:57
China is upgrading several standby airports near Beijing for next year's
Olympics by renovating terminals, enlarging tarmacs, lengthening runways and
improving services.
At Zhengding Airport, about 30 kilometers northeast of
Shijiazhuang, capital of north China's Hebei Province, workers have expanded the
existing air traffic control building after a year-long construction period. It
will boost the building's floor space by 15,000 square meters to 44,000 square
meters.
Since May last year, workers have also been renovating and expanding
the old terminal with the floor space set to double to 55,000 square meters
ahead of the Games, said Xing Dongfang, vice general manager of the Hebei
Airport Administration Group.
The new, improved terminal will be able to
handle 2.3 million passengers annually.
Earlier this year, workers enlarged
the Zhengding tarmac by 35,000 square meters and built two new taxiways, both of
which have been put into operation, Xing said.
"The other projects and
supportive facilities, such as renovation of the drainage system and
construction of new fire-control stations, will be completed before the end of
June."
The Hebei Provincial Government and the General Administration of
Civil Aviation of China have earmarked 500 million yuan (US$67.6 million) for
the Zhengding renovation, one of three standby airports for the Beijing Capital
International Airport during the Olympic Games when the volume is expected to
reach up to 1,500 flights daily.
"We have been training our staff in Olympic
English, Olympic knowledge, Olympic etiquette and emergency treatment, in
addition to the airport renovation," said Li Hongwei, manager of the Passenger
Service Department of the Hebei Airport Administration Group.
As
international travelers will likely be eager to check their luggage and ask for
the latest Games information if their flight makes an alternate landing at
Zhengding due to bad weather during the Olympics, Li said airport staff will be
ready to provide immediate service.
"We have also been teaching our staff
about different religious beliefs, traditional customs, etiquette and diet
taboos in different countries. This is to help them better serve
passengers."
In preparation, the airport has signed agreements with more than
20 star-grade hotels and several hospitals in Shijiazhuang if any passengers
should become stranded or fall ill.
Similar renovations and training have
also been carried out at two other alternate airports.
Since the beginning of
last year, a 1.5 billion yuan renovation has been going on at the Wusu
International Airport about 15 km south of Taiyuan, capital of north China's
Shanxi Province.
Workers have been constructing a new terminal building with
a floor space of 55,000 square meters and renovating the old 25,800-square-meter
terminal. Following the construction, the airport is expected to handle 6
million passengers annually.
In addition, the airport runway will be
stretched from its current 3,200 meters to 3,600 meters to accommodate alternate
landings for the Airbus A380, the world's largest aircraft.
In August this
year, the Baita International Airport, about 10 kilometers east of Hohhot,
capital of north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, was put into
operation after a renovation.
The two year, 1.5 billion yuan project features
a new terminal building with a floor space of 55,000 square meters that can
handle 3 million passengers annually.
Workers have also built a new tarmac
covering 374,000 square meters and doubled the aircraft parking bays to
32.
Xinhua
|
