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Guizhou airport begins expansion

Xinhua, June 19, 2015 Adjust font size:

Work began on Friday on a massive expansion of Guiyang Longdongbao Airport in southwest China's Guizhou Province, a project aimed at building the airport into a major travel hub.

With an investment of over 19.6 billion yuan (3.2 billion U. S. dollars), the airport will be expanded by more than 572 hectares. The construction is due to be concluded in June 2019, said Shen Zhendong, chairman of Guizhou Airports Group Co..

The current runway will be extended by 800 meters to reach 4,000 meters, and a 3,600-meters new runway will be built. A new terminal of 165,000 square meters will be constructed. Upon completion, the airport is expected to be able to operate 260,000 take-offs and landings annually.

Located in the provincial capital of Guiyang, the airport is the largest in Guizhou.

Also on Friday, a low-cost airline was inaugurated in Guizhou. With a registered capital of 1 billion yuan and a name that translates as "Colorful Guizhou Airlines", this is Guizhou's first airline.

Its base airport is Longdongbao. The company has ordered seven E190 aircraft from Brazilian areospace conglomerate Embraer. It has 16 captains, six co-pilots and 30 flying cadets.

Zhai Yan, chairman of the company, said it will make its maiden flight within this year and is aiming to have 20 aircraft by 2020. Endi