Millions budgeted for airport to meet 2027 demands

An allocation of 2.96 billion yuan ($415.5 million) was approved last week to construct a second terminal and improve facilities to handle 198,000 flights, 27.5 million passengers, and 104,000 tons of cargo and mail annually at Zhuhai (Jinwan) Airport.

To be built at the airport on Central Jinhai Road in Sanzao Town is a 191,310-sq-m (47-acre) terminal with ramp tower and operation control center. It will have 20 aircraft contact stands and five C-category remote stands.

The Zhuhai Development & Reform Bureau has included renovations at Terminal I to meet the growing demand. Four remote stands south of the building will be upgraded for use by C-category aircraft. A second taxiway, the same length as the runway, will be connected to the first taxiway via three renovated and 13 new links.

An E-category isolated stand is to be placed west of Terminal I. Two rapid taxiways and three vertical links will connect the runway with the first taxiway.

Moreover, a level crossing signal box will be located on the east side of Terminal II. A firefighting master station will be built next to the central-southern area of the runway, firefighting duty point and lighting station erected on the east side, and lighting master station, level crossing signal box, and hazardous materials storage on the west side.

Support facilities related to navigational lighting aid, power supply and allocation, water supply and drainage, and firefighting are included in the project.

The current terminal, with a designed capability of 12 million passengers, is on the brink of saturation. The new capacity is required in response to surging passenger throughput, which reached 11.22 million last year.