BEIJING: Despite having to complete a veritable obstacle course, including strikes and court cases, the proposed modernisation of the New Delhi and Mumbai airports is pressing forward. But even as the airport saga continues to unfold in India, there is a veritable explosion of airport building activity to the north of the Himalayas.

The Civil Aviation Authority of China (CAAC) announced this week that the mainland would spend 140 billion yuan ($17.4 billion) over the next five years to expand its airport infrastructure.

Already boasting several world-class, gleaming international gateways, 44 new airports will now be added to China's existing 142 airports, by 2010.

The new spending figures represent a sharp hike in airport infrastructure investment. Between 1990 and 2005, China spent some 120 billion yuan ($14.9 billion) on aviation infrastructure.

The increased spending comes amid feverish expansion by Chinese airlines. According to Gao Hongfeng, Vice-Minister of CAAC, China's fleet of commercial aircraft will increase to 1,580 by 2010 from 863. He said passenger and cargo traffic was predicted to grow by 14 per cent annually till 2010.

In addition to building new airports, several existing facilities will undergo extensive expansion. Beijing airport's Terminal-3 is an example. Designed by the British architect, Lord Norman Foster, the new terminal is expected to take less than three years to complete and will cost $2 billion. According to Lord Foster's website, the terminal's "soaring aerodynamic roof will reflect the poetry of flight. Passengers will enjoy a fully glazed single, lofty space, day lit through roof lights and bathed in colour changing from red to yellow as you progress through it.''

Once finished, the Beijing Capital International airport will be the largest in the world, outdoing in size both the current biggest airports, Chek Lap Kok in Hong Kong and Heathrow in the U.K.

The Beijing airport has two terminals, with two runways, and is the fourth-busiest airport in Asia, with a capacity to handle around 35 million visitors a year and 60 flights an hour.

China started opening its aviation infrastructure sector to foreign and domestic investment three years ago. Since then there have been many takers for the lucrative market. For example, German airport operator Fraport A.G. (which won the bid for Delhi's airport modernisation), recently bought a 25 per cent stake in east China's Ningbo airport and is in talks for an even bigger stake of Xi'an Xianyang airport in the north.

Last June, Singapore's Changi airport spent $240 million on a 35 per cent stake in Hangzhou airport, which will also be expanded in the coming years, according to Mr. Gao.

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