Chongqing- The investment budget for the first phase of Chongqing's new airport construction was 45 billion yuan (about 6.92 billion U.S. dollars), according to the recently released Bidding Notice for the Preparation of the Environmental Impact Assessment Report for the New Airport in Chongqing.
As expected, the construction tasks include a new Terminal 1 (T1), two runways, an integrated transport hub, and related ancillary facilities.
Among them, the construction of the integrated transport hub is expected to be reserved for stations, tracks, railways, and road lines, with an investment budget of 3 billion yuan.
Construction of the green airport
The recommended site for Chongqing's new airport at Zhengxing Town in Bishan District is located in the western part of Chongqing's central city, about 48 kilometers as the crow flies from Chaotianmen Square. It is in the southwest of urban areas in Bishan, about 21 kilometers away.
According to Four Characteristics Airport Development Guidelines where Chongqing will follow building its new airport, the construction of a green airport should focus on resource conservation, low-carbon emission reduction, environmental friendliness, and efficient operation.
Among them, focusing on land-intensive, energy and water-saving, and material saving, the construction emphasizes reducing resource consumption and improving resource utilization. Low-carbon construction and management emphasizes optimizing energy structure and configuring new energy facilities to improve carbon emission management.
At the same time, based on realizing environmental governance, the construction pays attention to optimizing the environment, while in the operation of aircraft and ground transportation, emphasis will be placed on reducing the impact of airport operations on the environment.
Specifically, controlling energy consumption, the new airport will require clear energy consumption control objectives in each region, improve the measurement system, advocate the realization of sub-measurement, and establish a green performance management mechanism.
40 million annual passenger throughput
The news of Chongqing’s new airport has attracted attention indeed.
The current phase of Chongqing’s new airport is scheduled to be completed in 2035, with an annual passenger throughput of 40 million and a freight throughput of one million tons.
In addition, its long-term target year is 2050, with an annual passenger throughput of 70 million and a freight throughput of 3.5 million tons.
The new airport is expected to have three to four parallel runways of 3,200 meters to 3,800 meters, with an airfield area class of 4F and an area of approximately 37 square kilometers.
The 4F class airport is the highest in the class of airports. Representatives of 4F-class airports can take off and land various large aircraft. Examples involve Beijing Capital International Airport, Hong Kong International Airport, and Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport.
Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport. (iChongqing file photo)
The 2022 government work report delivered at the Chongqing's Two Sessions also mentioned that Chongqing would strive to start the construction of a new airport comprehensive transportation hub, where the building of a world-class airport cluster with Chengdu will be promoted.
(Shi Jiaqi, as an intern, also contributed to this report.)