Competition from the Guangdong-Hainan railway which is scheduled to open next year will post little threat to Hainan Meilan Airport - manager of the mainland's eighth largest airport by passenger throughput.
According to a research report issued by Oriental Patron - a joint sponsor of the company's initial public offering, the new railway would reduce the travel time by water between Guangdong and tropical tourist destination Hainan Island to about 10 hours.
Although the railway will intensify competition with air travel, ING - a co-lead underwriter - said in a report that air transport would remain the most efficient method of inter-provincial travel for the island. The airport will remain the island's main gateway for both passenger and air freight traffic, it added.
'Only low-value bulk cargo to and from the island has been lost to carriage by ship,' ING said. The island has direct sea links with five mainland cities - Guangzhou, Nanning, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Zhanjiang.
It takes 10 hours by ferry to travel between Hainan and Guangdong for 200 yuan (HK$187) to 300 yuan. It takes about one hour by air and costs 400 to 600 yuan.
Air transportation was expected to rise with economic growth, Oriental Patron said.
Meilan Airport also faces competition from Sanya Airport - near one of the island's best known beach resorts - which handled one million passengers last year, about 20 per cent that of Meilan. Sanya has a runway capable of handling Boeing 747-400 aircraft.