WORK will begin this year to double the capacity of Nanjing Lukou International Airport to meet the needs of increasing freight traffic in and out of the booming Yangtze River Delta region.
While Shanghai's Pudong International Airport is currently the only main gateway to the region, Nanjing Lukou International Airport Co hopes to establish itself as the second international shipping and freight hub, its vice president Xu Yong said yesterday while addressing an air cargo conference in the city.
"We will begin the construction of a new terminal and a second runway from this year," Xu said.
The additions will allow the Nanjing airport to more than double its capacity ?? it handled 8 million passengers last year and is expected to process 10 million this year.
"In the past decade, the Yangtze River Delta has enjoyed rapid development in the amount of freight traffic," Xu added.
"This development of the delta will have a great impact on domestic and international freight traffic. In this situation, the airport has decided to improve its infrastructure. We believe we can make our contribution and make Nanjing the second new hub after Pudong," Xu said.
The Nanjing airport is currently the 10th busiest in the country for cargo traffic and the 14th busiest for passenger traffic, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China. Passenger traffic grew by 28 percent last year and cargo by 18.6 percent.
Five international airlines have introduced services to Nanjing in the past three years, starting with Singapore Airlines in 2005.