news

한어Русский языкEnglishFrançaisIndonesianSanskrit日本語DeutschPortuguêsΕλληνικάespañolItalianoSuomalainenLatina

Among the top 10 cities in China in terms of GDP, Suzhou is the only city without a civil airport; among the cities in the country with a population of over 10 million, Suzhou is also the only city without a civil airport.

In the past two years, "Suzhou has no airport" has been a hot topic of public discussion. "Suzhou Meiyou Airport", "Suzhou Xiangyao Airport" and "Suzhou Zanwu Airport" (homonymous with "Suzhou has no airport", "Suzhou wants an airport" and "Suzhou has no airport yet") have become popular online memes.

In this regard, in addition to actively promoting the preliminary work of civil airport planning, Suzhou has also frequently come up with "unique measures". According to the "Suzhou High-tech Zone Release", at the Suzhou Low-altitude Economy Salon held recently, the Suzhou Sky Express High-tech Plaza Direct Flight Center was put into use, opening a route from Suzhou to Wuxi Shuofang International Airport, which only takes 12 minutes and has a 4 to 5 times higher travel efficiency than ground commuting and ordinary airport channels.

In the future, helicopter shuttle routes will be opened to Shanghai Hongqiao Airport and Pudong Airport.

It is becoming more and more convenient for Suzhou residents to travel to nearby airports. In May last year, Suzhou opened the Suzhou City Terminal of Shanghai Airport, where passengers can check in, check their luggage, and go through security checks in Suzhou, and then take a flight to Shanghai Hongqiao or Pudong Airport in one stop.

Whether there is an airport or not, we still have to do the work at hand. Suzhou did not get stuck in the dilemma.

The direct flight center of High-tech Plaza is the hub of the "Suzhou Sky Express". Photo by Ding Jueli, a reporter from The Paper

Multiple measures to quickly reach surrounding airports

A reporter from The Paper (www.theppaer.cn) learned from the operator of the Gaoxin Plaza direct flight center that the charter price for the R44 aircraft from Gaoxin Plaza to Wuxi Shuofang Airport is 1,450 yuan per trip, with a maximum of three passengers, and the single-person charter price for the Bell 505 aircraft is 2,860 yuan per trip, with a maximum of four passengers.

In addition, the charter price for the R44 aircraft on the route from Gaoxin Plaza to Suzhou North High-speed Railway Station is 880 yuan per trip, with a maximum of 3 passengers, and the charter price for the Bell 505 aircraft is 1,880 yuan per trip, with a maximum of 4 passengers.

According to Gu Qiong, the operator of the Gaoxin Plaza Direct Flight Center and the person in charge of Ruohang Suzhou Helicopter Base, the Gaoxin Plaza Direct Flight Center will also plan more than ten routes from Gaoxin Plaza to Nantong Zilang Lake, Changzhou, Jiaxing, Hangzhou Xiaoshan Airport and Shanghai Magnolia Plaza, and will become an important hub on the rooftop of the air express in the future.

Gu Qiong also told the reporter from The Paper that the High-tech Plaza Direct Flight Center will become an important hub for air express in the future, providing low-altitude travel, airport transfers and other services, cultivating new business models for urban air transportation, and helping Suzhou's low-altitude economy to take off faster.

The terminal hall of the direct flight center at Gaoxin Plaza. Photo by Ding Jueli, a reporter from The Paper

Suzhou also offers quick access to surrounding airports.

According to the information from the "Suzhou City Terminal" WeChat public account, Suzhou officially opened the Shanghai Airport Suzhou City Terminal in May last year. It is located in Suzhou Industrial Park. Passengers can check in, check in luggage, and go through security in Suzhou, and then take a "one-stop" bus to Shanghai Hongqiao or Pudong Airport to catch a flight. The bus from Suzhou to Shanghai is also called a "virtual flight" and the virtual flight number can be found when checking the flight.

Suzhou City Terminal is the first inter-provincial city terminal in China to realize diversified air-ground intermodal transport functions through digital means. Ten domestic and international airlines, including China Eastern Airlines, Air China, China Southern Airlines, and Singapore Airlines, have settled in. In the past year since its opening, it has served more than 60,000 passengers, with a peak service of 410 passengers per day.

The Paper also noted that in May this year, Suzhou City Terminal obtained the exclusive three-letter code SZO authorized by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), making Suzhou the "destination" and "origin" of international air travel. Although it does not take off from Suzhou, you can directly choose Suzhou as the destination and origin of the flight when purchasing a ticket, and you can also enjoy preferential fares for connecting flights.

In addition, the direct routes from Suzhou to Shanghai Hongqiao Airport, Shanghai Pudong Airport and Wuxi Shuofang Airport are also being increased, with departure intervals mostly every half an hour. There is also a night bus to Shuofang Airport.

What does Suzhou want to do by building a "general airport"?

In March this year, a "Suzhou Transportation Investment Group Co., Ltd.'s Suzhou General Airport (tentative name) site selection report and feasibility study report (including special topics) preparation and submission service project bidding announcement" was made public, which attracted widespread attention from all walks of life.

The announcement shows that the budget for the Suzhou General Airport (tentative name) site selection report and feasibility study report (including special topics) preparation and submission service project is 8 million yuan. The main work of the project is divided into two stages: airport site selection and feasibility study (project establishment).

Suzhou Transportation Investment Group's bidding information. Screenshot from The Paper

General airports are not civil airports, but mainly provide services for helicopters, small aircraft and future unmanned aircraft, and are widely used in many fields such as air commuting, sightseeing, firefighting, and agricultural and forestry operations. According to the "2023 Civil Aviation Industry Development Statistical Bulletin" released by the Civil Aviation Administration of China, by the end of 2023, the number of registered general airports in the country will reach 449.

General airports are usually the vehicles for developing the low-altitude economy.

According to the Suzhou Daily, in April this year, Suzhou held a conference to promote the development of low-altitude economy, at which the Implementation Plan for High-quality Development of Suzhou's Low-altitude Economy (2024-2026) was released. According to this plan, Suzhou will vigorously expand the city's low-altitude delivery scenarios, open more than 100 drone routes, set up a flight service team, open 3 to 5 general aviation short-distance transport routes to surrounding airports, conduct research on the demarcation of low-altitude routes, and build 1-2 general airports and more than 200 vertical take-off and landing points.

Liu Xiaotao, member of the Standing Committee of the Jiangsu Provincial Party Committee and Secretary of the Suzhou Municipal Party Committee, said that Suzhou will promote more high-end platforms, advanced technologies, and major projects to be implemented in Suzhou in accordance with the ideas of establishing rules first, driving scenarios, market orientation, technical support, and safety first, moving from being a pioneer to being a success, and exploring more experience for the high-quality development of the low-altitude economy.

The Paper learned that at the low-altitude economy salon held on July 13, Suzhou issued the country's first local low-altitude air traffic rules - "Suzhou Low-altitude Air Traffic Rules (Trial)", which will be implemented on September 1 this year. The "Rules" have 8 chapters and 37 articles, mainly in terms of service management, operation management, airspace management, flight activity management, flight support and other aspects, to regulate low-altitude air traffic rules, which will promote the formation of a one-stop service mechanism for low-altitude flights in Suzhou and promote Suzhou to become a "city in the sky" where the low-altitude economy accelerates its take-off.

How far is Suzhou’s “airport dream” from coming true?

Apart from general airports, is there still hope for Suzhou's civil airport?

The Paper noted that more than a decade ago, Suzhou was known as the "Suzhou Airport Cluster". The Yangtze River Delta is one of the regions with the highest density of civil airports in my country. Currently, an airport cluster has been formed, with Shanghai Hongqiao and Pudong airports as the leaders, including Wuxi Shuofang, Changzhou Benniu, Nanjing Lukou, Hangzhou Xiaoshan, Ningbo Lishe, Hefei Xinqiao and other 24 airports.

Among them, Jiangsu has nine civil transport airports, including Wuxi Shuofang, Changzhou Benniu, Nanjing Lukou, Nantong Xingdong, Yangzhou Taizhou, Huai'an Lianshui, Yancheng Nanyang, Lianyungang Huaguoshan and Xuzhou Guanyin. Only Suzhou, Zhenjiang and Suqian do not have a civil airport (Yangzhou Taizhou Airport is considered to be shared by Yangzhou and Taizhou).

The Paper (www.thepaper.cn) searched the information disclosure of the Civil Aviation Administration of China and found that in 2020, the Civil Aviation Administration of China wrote in its "Letter in Reply to the Opinions on the Joint Handling of Proposal No. 0635 (No. 077 in the Industry, Communications, Post and Telecommunications Category) of the Third Session of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference" that the Civil Aviation Administration of China suggested further demonstrating the feasibility of building a transport airport in Suzhou, which will be taken into consideration in the preparation of relevant plans.

As early as the 1980s, the Suzhou Municipal Government had the idea of ​​building an airport. However, due to many restrictions such as funding and land use, the airport plan was eventually changed to an industrial park plan.

On April 29, 2004, Zhu Min, then deputy secretary-general of the Suzhou Municipal Government and director of the Development and Planning Committee, stated at a Suzhou Municipal Government press conference that Suzhou would not build an airport within five years. "Although there is an urgent need for international aviation, at this stage Suzhou will try its best to utilize the existing aviation resources in the surrounding area, especially those in Shanghai."

In 2011, "Nanjing Shuofang International Airport Co., Ltd." was officially unveiled. Suzhou Urban Construction Investment Development (Group) Co., Ltd. holds approximately 29.3% of Shuofang Airport, becoming the second largest shareholder. Shuofang Airport nominally became an airport shared by Suzhou and Wuxi.

In 2016, the State Council approved the "Suzhou City Master Plan (2011-2020)" and the "Suzhou Transportation 13th Five-Year Development Plan", which clearly stated that Suzhou will build a passenger airport.

In the same year, Suzhou Daily published an article stating that the initial intention was to locate Suzhou Airport in Wujiang and strive for the Suzhou Airport project to be "landed within this year". In 2018, Suzhou set up a special working group to plan and study the construction of Suzhou Airport.

In 2019, the Outline of the Regional Integrated Development Plan for the Yangtze River Delta was released, proposing to jointly build a world-class airport cluster and plan to build a new Nantong airport as an important part of the Shanghai International Aviation Hub. It also proposed to optimize and enhance the regional aviation hub functions of Hangzhou, Nanjing, and Hefei, enhance the aviation service capabilities of Ningbo, Wenzhou and other regions, and support the construction of the Suonan Shuofang Airport as a regional hub airport, but did not mention the planning and construction of the Suzhou Airport.

In June this year, the Suzhou Municipal Transportation Bureau responded to netizens' "Several Suggestions on Suzhou Airport" on the "Local Leaders Message Board" of People's Daily Online, stating that Suzhou has always been committed to promoting related work at Suzhou Airport, and the planning and construction of Suzhou Airport has been reflected in many provincial plans and programs.

The bureau said that according to the relevant procedures for the construction of new civil airports in the country, the site selection and other preliminary work of the new airport must be carried out on the premise of being included in the relevant national planning. Currently, Suzhou is promoting the inclusion of Suzhou Airport in the relevant national planning.