Macquarie, Goldman among interested firms
Kunming International Airport, located in the southwestern province of Yunnan, is seeking as much as US$400 million from foreign investors to fund development, market sources said.
Funds run by Macquarie, Goldman Sachs and Singapore's Changi Airport were among the interested parties, the sources said.
Yunnan Airport Group is developing an international airport in Kunming after the State Council approved the US$3 billion construction plan in 2006. When completed, the airfield will be the mainland's fourth-largest behind Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.
The first two runways will be finished next year and will be able to handle 25 million passengers annually. Another two runways - their completion dates unspecified - will boost total capacity to 63 million passengers a year.
Kunming's current airport, which can accommodate 20 million passengers a year, will remain open until 2010.
Beijing and provincial authorities believed Kunming could become a major southwestern transport hub, one source said. The province is a popular tourist destination - thanks to its natural attractions such as Lake Dian and the large number of ethnic minorities there.
