The Guangzhou airport is on track to handle more than 20m passengers this year
A record number of business and leisure travellers passed through Guangzhou's Baiyun International Airport last month putting the facility on track to handle more than 20 million passengers this year.
The number of international travellers who chose the airport as their south China gateway in the first nine months rose a comparative 80 per cent, to 1.76 million, and management says there are more foreign airlines lined up to begin cargo and passenger services.
'Since opening, there has been plenty of interest from foreign carriers looking to start new services at our airport,' said Lin Yunxian, vice-president and board member of the Guangdong Airport Management Corp. 'We welcome foreign airlines and we believe that what we now can offer is equal to that on offer in the most modern western airports.'
Baiyun handled a record 1.92 million passengers last month. In the first nine months, it saw almost 14.9 million passengers pass through its turnstiles, with Hong Kong-related travellers surging 40.3 per cent year on year to more than 256,800.
Mr Lin said Dubai-based Emirates and Austrian Airlines were among several foreign carriers showing a strong interest in starting passenger services to Guangzhou's new, 18 billion yuan airport. Baiyun is also deep in negotiations with some of the world's biggest international cargo carriers.
Today, Mr Lin will meet a Federal Express delegation led by executive vice-president (international) Michael Ducker, as the Memphis-based integrator moves closer to shifting its Asia-Pacific hub from the Philippines to southern China.
