Guangzhou New Airport Breaks Ground, Bolstering GBA’s Air Hub Layout

A new modern international aviation hub in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) has moved from blueprint to reality as the construction of Guangzhou New Airport kicked off on the 25th, providing an additional boost to the development of the GBA’s world-class urban agglomeration.

Located in Gaoming District of Foshan City, the airport sits at the geographical center of four cities — Foshan, Zhaoqing, Jiangmen and Yunfu — and can directly serve over 20 million people. According to the plan, it is positioned as a domestic civil hub airport, an important part of Guangzhou’s international aviation hub and one of the GBA’s aviation hubs, while also undertaking the function of a comprehensive transportation hub in the western part of the GBA.

With a total investment of 41.808 billion yuan, including 35.909 billion yuan for airport engineering, the project will construct two long-distance parallel runways, a terminal building covering approximately 260,000 square meters, 94 aircraft parking bays and corresponding supporting facilities. It is expected to meet the operational demand of 30 million passenger throughput, 500,000 tons of cargo and mail throughput, and 260,000 aircraft movements per year.

Upon completion, Guangzhou New Airport will adopt a differentiated route layout from Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport in line with its functional positioning. The two airports will develop in coordination and complement each other’s functions, jointly providing strong support for Guangzhou to build a world-class international aviation hub.

To achieve efficient multi-modal transportation connection between aviation, railways and highways, the new airport will introduce several regional trunk rail transit lines, including the Guangzhou-Zhanjiang High-Speed Railway, Shenzhen-Nanning High-Speed Railway, Zhuhai-Zhaoqing High-Speed Railway and Zhaoshun-Nanjiang Intercity Railway. A “five horizontal and four vertical” expressway network and rapid road network will be built around it simultaneously.

The construction of Guangzhou New Airport is a key measure to fill the gap in the GBA’s world-class airport cluster, as existing transport airports in the GBA are mainly located in the eastern part of the Pearl River Delta, resulting in insufficient aviation service capacity and coverage for major cities on the western bank of the Pearl River. This project is set to enhance the GBA’s global competitiveness.