The New Baiyun International Airport in Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong province, has been operating normally since it went into service last Thursday, announced Zhang Chunlin, president of the Guangdong Provincial Airports Management Group Company.

According to Zhang, in the first seven days of service, the new airport handled 3,396 takeoffs and landings, with 410,179 passengers, up by 9.26 percent and 15 percent over the old Baiyun Airport for the same period of time last year.

Flight punctuality has exceeded 80 percent, retaining the level of the old airport.

The new airport, covering 15 sq kms, is situated in Huadu, about 30 minutes' bus ride from downtown Guangzhou. It cost 19.8 billion yuan (sine 2.32 billion US dollars) and took four years to complete.

Boasting a 350,000-sq-m terminal, the new airport is capable of handling 25 million passengers and one million tons of cargo a year. It is nearly four times the size of the old airport in downtown Guangzhou, which was overburdened by the increasing amount of passengers and cargo transport.

The old Baiyun Airport was closed last Wednesday night after 72years of operation.

Source: Xinhua