China: Is Beijing’s airport ready for an Olympian task?
BEIJING – The General Administration of Civil Aviation of China (CAAC) recently suspended some scheduled services of Air China and China Eastern Airlines at Beijing Capital International Airport, due to repeated delays.
This was only a very small part of total operations. But it was significant because it was part of a programme to reduce congestion and ensure the smooth running of the airport in the lead-up to the 2008 Olympic Games, now less than 12 months away.
Other airlines have been warned about possible suspensions relating to a further 120 delayed flights to/from the capital.
Beijing is taking the Olympics very seriously, as its big opportunity to showcase the remarkable development of this now-powerful force – and the aviation sector is a critical part of the foreign experience.
Beijing Airport in particular has had real problems keeping up with demand over the last few years. This is hardly surprising, in view of the massive expansion of air travel in China since 2000.
Think of it this way: Seven per cent annual growth means a doubling in traffic each 10 years. China’s domestic market has been growing at over 15 per cent annually; that means it doubles every four years.
Beijing Airport has come under special pressure too, as CAAC policy has changed. After splitting the domestic market into three major airlines, each based at its own geographically separate hub, in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, the airlines have progressively been permitted to move into the Beijing market, accentuating the expansion of services there.
Existing facilities at Beijing Airport cannot keep pace with the double-digit growth that the Chinese domestic market has shown.
Beijing handled 26 million passengers in the first half of 2007, up 16 per cent year-on-year, after last year handling 48.7 million in the full year (surging into the Top Ten global airports by passenger volume for the first time).
This is well ahead of its design capacity of 35 million passengers – and the typically stronger second half year is still ahead. Many airports work at above capacity – but none experience continuing growth rates in excess of 15 per cent.
The CAAC now forecasts average passenger traffic growth of 14 per cent each year to 2010 and 11 per cent from 2011 through to 2020. But unless congestion at China’s main airports is addressed, this level of growth simply cannot be achieved in Beijing.
Ian Jarrett
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