Plans approved for 3rd Airport in Hainan
The tropical island province already has two airports, one located in its capital city Haikou, and the other in its tourism capital Sanya City.
Plans for a third airport in Qionghai city's Zhongyuan Township are now underway thanks to recent approval from Chinese authorities.
Hainan, China's southernmost point, is a tropical island located in the South China Sea. Being an island separated from Mainland China by the Qiongzhou Strait, the most popular choice of travel to Hainan is by air.
The island has been the centre of attention in recent years under a ten-year plan by the Chinese government to boost the island's reputation to that of an international tourism island the likes of Hawaii and Bali.
Visitor numbers to the island have increased dramatically under the plan with a year-on-year increase of 8.94 per cent in the first half of 2011, with 14.42 million visitors.
The recent increase in tourist traffic has been largely attributed to the island's duty-free shopping program and the development of large duty-free shopping complexes in Sanya city and Haikou.
The island has also become famous for hosting numerous international events such as the Mission Hills Cup and the Miss World Beauty Pageant, as well as international political gatherings such as the 2011 BRICS Summit.
One particular international conference that will be aided by the development of the new airport is the Bo'ao Forum, an annual gathering of state leaders, government officials, businessmen and academics from across Asia held in the small town of Bo'ao to promote regional economic integration.
Able to accommodate a variety of aircraft including corporate jets, cargo planes and airliners, the airport will handle 3,190 flights annually, or 290,000 passengers and 725 metric tons of cargo by 2015.
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