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airport construction must be rational and pragmatic. we must not be carried away by political achievements and force our way forward. we should not always think about exceeding construction standards, thinking that only by making the airport more high-end can the city's image be improved and local officials can gain face.

written by xiong zhi

in addition to high-speed railways and subways, airport construction has also set off a wave of enthusiasm.

according to statistics, since the beginning of 2014, a total of 71 new transport airports have been built in china, 41 of which are built in county areas. some provinces have already achieved the goal of "connecting every city with an airport", and some provinces have even called for the goal of "connecting every county with an airport".

according to the civil aviation administration's "14th five-year plan for civil aviation development", during the 14th five-year plan period, the number of civil transport airports will increase from 241 in 2021 to 270 in 2025.

statistics show that by the end of 2023, there will be 259 civil transport airports in china.this means that by the end of next year, there will be 11 new airports in the country.

picture/tuchong creative

on the one hand, airport construction is in full swing, with large, medium and small cities desperately starting construction and treating airports as the face of local development; on the other hand, some small and medium-sized airports are "not making enough money", with sparse passenger traffic, and are heavily dependent on subsidies to maintain themselves, and are even on the verge of shutdown.

the rush into airport construction should be replaced by a calm and rational attitude.

01

in the era of aviation economy, airports have long become a standard feature of hub cities.

when talking about the desperate efforts to build an airport, many people will think of suzhou, the "most powerful prefecture-level city". its gdp ranks sixth in the country, and its permanent population is close to 13 million. however, the idea of ​​building an airport has been proposed for 40 years, but it has not been realized until today. citizens still have to go to shanghai or wuxi to take a plane.

the lack of an airport is a major concern for suzhou residents. "suzhou meiyou airport" and "suzhou xiangyao airport" have even become internet memes used by locals to mock themselves.this eager anticipation just highlights the importance of an airport to a city.

since the 1990s, airport construction has entered a peak period across the country, and the enthusiasm of local governments to build airports has not been affected by the wave of high-speed rail infrastructure construction that began in 2008. in the past 10 years, more than 70 new airports have been added across the country, and the number of civil transport airports has now reached about 260.

looking across the country, there are not many cases like suzhou. most economically strong cities have already had high-level civil aviation airports. for example, chengdu, a hub city in the southwest region, will become the only two cities in the country with dual 4f airports (the top civil airports) after the tianfu international airport opens in 2021.

▲tianfu international airport (picture/video screenshot)

if we only consider the quantity, regardless of the scale and level, the distribution of civil transport airports is actually not closely corresponding to the level of economic development.

for example, guangdong, the largest economic province, has a total of 9 airports, while sichuan, which relies on transfer payments, has as many as 17. in terms of cities, suzhou does not have its own independent airport, while ganzi prefecture in sichuan has 3 airports.

for many big cities, a single airport can no longer satisfy their ambitions, and two airports are the destination; but when it comes to the impulse and enthusiasm for building airports, small and medium-sized cities are no less - according to statistics, there are nearly 260 airports in the country, and more than half are located in third-tier cities and below.

behind the grand goals of “connecting every city with an airport” and “connecting every county with an airport”, more and more underdeveloped small and medium-sized cities, and even county towns, can no longer contain their enthusiasm for infrastructure construction.

02

local governments are scrambling to build airports. the most direct consideration is of course to improve transportation and facilitate business travel, logistics and trade.

contrary to many people's intuition, in recent years, the most active areas of airport construction have not been the coastal provinces, but the central and western regions.

according to statistics, there are 7 provinces and regions with 10 or more airports, almost all of which are located in the western region. for example, sichuan has built 7 civil transport airports since 2018. in addition, guizhou has not only achieved "high-speed access to every county", but also took the lead in the country to achieve "airport access to every city".

the western region is vast and sparsely populated, with complex topography and landforms. the cost of building high-speed railways and highways is high. relatively speaking, building a small or medium-sized airport that meets aviation needs may only cost more than 1 billion yuan, which is a more economical option.

moreover, air transportation is known for its extremely high efficiency. it not only facilitates the exchanges of people, but also can quickly deliver materials, meet the transportation needs of some small, time-sensitive and high-value goods, and provide more convenience for local industrial development.

picture/tuchong creative

the addition of a new airport has not only improved regional traffic conditions, but has also brought about qualitative changes in the economic development of some places.

calculations by international organizations show that the input-output ratio of civil aviation is 1:8. for every million passenger throughput at an airport, the total economic benefit generated is us$130 million, and up to 2,500 related jobs can be created.

a typical example is zhengzhou. as a strong competitor for the title of "china's memphis", zhengzhou was approved as the first national airport economic demonstration zone in 2013. relying on the hub advantage of the airport, it has developed airport economy and logistics industries, built a strong transportation network, and attracted investment from giants such as foxconn.

nowadays, high value-added products such as apple mobile phones "made in zhengzhou" can be conveniently transported to all parts of the world through an efficient aviation network, injecting continuous impetus into the local economy.

in addition, the shangri-la airport in diqing, yunnan, which is well-known to many people, has invested 256 million yuan and has become the traffic entrance for shangri-la tourism, effectively driving the development of local tourism.

previously, an official admitted in an interview with the media:

after receiving the invitation, the investment attraction targets are most concerned about whether there is an airport and whether the products can be shipped out quickly. therefore, building an airport is forced to a certain extent by the assessment. therefore, a large airport shows that the city is powerful.

this actually reveals another truth about the airport construction boom - airport construction serves transportation and industrial development, and is also driven by performance appraisal.it concerns the local economy and also the performance of government officials in attracting investment.

moreover, according to the interim measures for the management of subsidies for small and medium-sized civil aviation airports and other documents, the central government will provide certain subsidies for airports as infrastructure. with financial guarantees, local governments will naturally be more enthusiastic. not only are they rushing to build airports, but they are also always pursuing high-end specifications and standards. this also lays the hidden dangers of excessive advancement and idle waste.

03

when it comes to the airport construction boom, many people will use the united states, which has a well-developed air transport network, as a comparison, and believe that the number of airports in the country is not too many, but seriously insufficient, and that more should be built at full speed.

this ignores the differences in national conditions between the two countries. the core point is that china's high-speed rail network is very developed, and in short- and medium-distance travel, high-speed rail and airplanes are in a competitive and substitutive relationship.if we build blindly without scientific planning and pursue an increase in quantity blindly, it will lead to the problem of duplicate construction.

the demand for improved transportation in the underdeveloped areas of the central and western regions is understandable, but we must not mistakenly believe that airport construction is the universal key to boosting local economic and industrial development.

the 1:8 civil aviation input-output ratio is based on scientific planning and reasonable operation, not on the assumption that building an airport will automatically bring about significant economic growth. blindly launching a project without scientific or reasonable planning may lead to various negative risks.

airspace resources are limited, and the radiation range of airports is very wide. building two airports not far apart will produce a diversion effect. when airport construction is regarded as a political achievement project, competition between regions may escalate into unnecessary comparisons, leading to open and covert struggles over airport planning, layout and resource allocation.

the battle among cities such as suzhou, nantong and jiaxing over the site for shanghai's third airport is a subtle microcosm of this.

picture/tuchong creative

in addition, some places build larger airports in order to promote suburban development and cater to the needs of urban expansion, and also to facilitate land acquisition. the airports are located in remote areas far away from the city center, making commuting extremely inconvenient.

passengers may only have one hour on the flight, but it will take one or two hours on the way to the airport, which seriously affects the travel experience.

in response to the problem of airports being far away and boarding points being far away, wang yu, a member of the national committee of the chinese people's political consultative conference and chairman of spring airlines, called for airport construction not to "over-determine" and pursue size and perfection at the "two sessions" earlier this year. this reminder is a wake-up call for some airports to be overly advanced in construction.

04

what is more worth mentioning is that airport construction is subsidized by the central government, and the investment cost of small and medium-sized airports is not particularly high. this has led to some places impulsively launching projects without evaluating passenger flow, ignoring the cost pressures faced in subsequent continued operations.

at present, most of the country's small and medium-sized airports are in a loss-making state.airports are infrastructure, so it is understandable that they suffer losses. the problem is that if airport construction is out of touch with actual demand, its input-output ratio will not be 1:8, but may be 8:1.

a few years ago, the media reported that at an airport in a prefecture-level city in hunan province, 19 people entered and left the airport every day, and the passenger flow was extremely low. every flight is a loss, and closing the airport will cause a waste of resources. it will also cause a continuous burden on the local finances to barely maintain operations.

in order to "transfuse blood" to the airport, some places in shanxi province even took a "strange measure" before - through government documents, requiring staff of government agencies and public institutions to give priority to traveling by plane during official travel activities. however, such a measure is tantamount to drinking poison to quench thirst.

picture/tuchong creative

therefore, airport construction must be rational and pragmatic.don't be carried away by political achievements and force your way forward. don't always think about exceeding construction standards, thinking that a more upscale airport will improve the city's image and give local officials face.

especially some small cities and counties in the central and western regions, which are highly dependent on transfer payments and have poor economic blood-making capabilities, cannot restrain their enthusiasm for infrastructure construction and blindly launch large-scale investment projects such as airports, which will eventually lead to deeper difficulties.