International Expansion Helps Guangzhou's Baiyun International Grow

Baiyun International Airport in the Chinese city of Guangzhou has maintained its position as one of the country’s mainland hubs as a result of a strong past year. The facility handled 45.04 million passengers during 2011 thanks in a big part to the growth of its international network – ten new routes were opened and movements increased to 61,000 up 15.5 per cent year-on-year and passenger volume reached seven million, up 20 per cent on the previous year.

The last calendar year, 2011, was the first of the airport’s 12th five-year plan, and the success of its business model and hub status can be clearly seen in its end of year statistics. International transfer passengers for the 12 months were up 41 per cent compared with 2010, reaching 2.46 million

The airport expects to reach 60 million passengers by 2015, with international traffic accounting for around 11 million of this total. Baiyun International was ranked the 19th largest airport in the world by passenger traffic in 2010 and will likely move up a few positions once official statistics are confirmed for 2011.