The huge size of the Chinese market can be gauged by the planned size of China's third airport. The UK Guardian features it in this report:
( Link: http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2011/sep/08/beijing-aviation-hub-mega-airport )
Beijing set to become world's busiest aviation hub with new mega-airport
Proposals for giant third airport could mean 120 million passengers pass through Chinese capital a year
Guardian
Jonathan Watts in Beijing
Friday 9 September 201103.57 AEST
Beijing is moving to overtake London as the world's busiest aviation hub with the construction of a third airport that could have as many as nine runways.
The new mega-project – part of a huge expansion of China's airline industry – has alarmed environmental groups, who warn aircraft will increasingly contribute to the country's already dire pollution problems and high greenhouse gas emissions.
The government has yet to announce details of the project, but the Guardian has spoken to sources familiar with the initial designs and seen signs of construction in the rural district of Daxing, about 31 miles (50km) south-west of the city centre.
On the roadside, labourers are building an elaborate 10m-high steel and concrete map of the world topped by giant red characters declaring: "Construction of a New Airport City for the Capital."
Migrant workers, who live in tents on the site, said they had started work last month on the paving and fountains for the monument.
This follows the inclusion earlier this year of a new capital airport in the government's latest five-year plan.
It was only four years ago that the existing airport in the north of the city opened a huge third terminal ahead of the Beijing Olympics. Designed by the British architect, Norman Foster, it was then the world's biggest airport building, with more floor space than all five Heathrow terminals combined. But it has filled faster than expected due to the rapid growth of China's economy.
Last year, the airport handled 73.9 million passengers. By 2015, this is expected to rise to 90 million – 12 million more than it was designed for.
Beijing authorities have said they will start work this year on land acquisition and demolition for a new airport. In addition to a semi-military airport in Nanyuan, this first phase – due for completion in 2015 – will give the city the capacity to handle 120 million passengers a year. Depending on growth, this would see Beijing overtake London and Tokyo, which each had about 100 million in 2010. Even by Chinese standards, the proposals for the later stages of construction are staggering.
According to the domestic media and sources familiar with the project, the new airport is being designed to ultimately handle between 120 million and 200 million passengers, and have eight civilian runways and perhaps another for the military if Nanyuan is closed. Denver international airport currently has the most runways in the world with six.
A further paragraph notes:
China's aviation industry is already booming. Last year, it reported a profit of 43bn yuan (£3.9bn), triple the figure for the previous year. In the coming 20 years, China is forecast to buy 4,300 new jet aircraft.
How many average Citizens of China or Russia can afford to buy an airline ticket?
