Along with additional logistics and maintenance facilities, the new investment includes an international air freight terminal.
Construction has started on China Southern Airlines’ new base in Shenzhen. Because it borders Hong Kong’s Special Administrative Region, the city in South China’s Guangdong Province is ideally situated for further ground transit alternatives.
A ceremony to mark the start of building on the site took place on Friday, May 19, 2023. Over the next five years, the project is expected to receive a total investment of 2.4 billion yuan ($341 million).
What will the new building have?
Buildings for freight transportation, flight operation, aircraft repair, and a logistics center will all be located at this new China Southern Airlines station. There will be an international cargo terminal in the 338,000 square meter area as well. The new facility, which will also include a laboratory to create safety protocols for the passenger cabin emergency response, will offer workshops for technology advancements in flying and maintenance.The first phase of the project will take up 210,000 square meters and cost up to 1.6 billion yuan ($228 million). By 2028, the first stage should be finished.
Considering a new base, why Shenzhen?
Shenzhen has long been a key city for China Southern, and to accommodate demand, two brand-new Airbus A350s will be based at the Chinese airport towards the end of 2022. At Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport (SZX), the carrier’s market share exceeded 33% the previous year. Currently, significant international and domestic destinations served by China Southern include Dubai, Hanoi, and Jakarta.
Even plans to resume Shenzhen-Sydney and perhaps Moscow flights in June have been made public.The current international airport in Shenzhen offers connectivity by land, air, and sea to the surrounding bay area. When ferry service to downtown Hong Kong and Macau was reinstated at the beginning of this year, the Shenzhen Airport Ferry Terminal was among the first to do so. Jihe Expressway, National Road 107, and easy access to the Guangzhou-Shenzhen expressway are some of the available land transit alternatives from the airport to Hong Kong, Macau, Guangzhou, Dongguan, Huizhou, Zhongshan, and Zhuhai.In terms of global recognition, Shenzhen Airport has done fairly well for itself.
The facility received the global “Five Star Airport” rating from Skytrax for the years 2021 and 2022. Recent recognition as “World’s Most Improved Airport” came from the same accrediting authority. China Southern has bases at Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport and Beijing Daxing Airport in addition to its recently disclosed location.Other carriers have lately made investments in Shenzhen besides China Southern.
This year, there have been enhanced and restored international passenger operations by Cebu Pacific from the Philippines, Indonesia’s Lion Air, and Cambodia Airways. The airport’s route network connects to 20 destinations across 17 nations and has numerous more connections planned, including a new Hainan Airlines route to Brussels.
