A GROUND-BREAKING ceremony was held in Shenzhen¡¯s Fuyong Ferry Terminal yesterday to mark the beginning of a 4.2-billion-yuan (US$520 million) reclamation project for the Shenzhen airport¡¯s second runway.

Shenzhen Party chief Li Hong-zhong inaugurated the project yesterday morning.

The project aims to cope with the increase in air traffic as the capacity of the city¡¯s only airport, the Shenzhen Bao¡¯an International Airport, is expected to reach saturation point by 2006. Upon completion of the second runway, the airport¡¯s handling capacity is expected to meet the air traffic demand in 2020.

The project will reclaim an area of 11.89 square kilometers, of which 5.57 square kilometers are now fishing pools, with the rest being the sea. Its scale and complexity will set records for the nation, the Shenzhen Evening News reported.

The second runway will be 3.6 kilometers long and 1.6 kilometers from and run parallel to the present runway. A new air station area covering 230,000 square meters will also be built.

The reclamation project is only the first part of the second runway¡¯s construction process, which costs 11 billion yuan in total. The Shenzhen Municipal Government will pay 4.2 billion yuan for the reclamation.

Shenzhen Airport Group will invest 5 billion yuan in the construction of the runway and related facilities on the ground. Shenzhen Airport Company Ltd. will invest 2 billion yuan in a boarding area and other related projects.

Yang Jinjun, the group¡¯s board director, said he believed the airport would see rapid development three years later, after the completion of the second runway.

The airport first began construction in May 1989, and a successful trial flight was conducted in September 1991. Yang said the present airport was the most profitable in the world.

The present runway can handle 16 million passengers a year while the passenger throughput was expected to reach 17 million in 2006.

Editor: Yan