China is already the world’s second largest economy after US and it is expected that it will overtake the US economy in 2016. As China’s GDP increases and disposable income levels rise, the population becomes wealthy enough to travel both within and outside the country’s borders. Due to the population of China and surrounding countries, there is a huge market opportunity for aviation businesses operating to/from and within China, which is currently only in its infancy phase.
The population size of China is stimulating the massive growth seen at the Chinese airports. A comparison of general population in the top 20 cities in the US vs China illustrates the huge potential for air travel in the country over the coming decade, with all of the top 20 cities in China having over 3 million inhabitants. Compared to the US of which has only two cities (New York and Los Angeles) with a population of over 3 million.
Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson Airport (ATL) is the busiest airport in the world by capacity since 1998 with Beijing Capital (PEK) in second place for the past two years, but with Beijing’s rapid growth, it is forecast to overtake Atlanta in 2012 after 15 years at number 1. The recently built terminal at Beijing Capital International Airport cannot keep up with China’s booming air-travel demand. The city already has Beijing Capital International Airport and Nanyuan Airport, but they are not big enough to handle growing demand and a third airport is being built. Due to be completed in 2015, Daxing Airport, located 50km out of the city in the village of Nangezhuan, is expected to handle 120 to 200 million passengers a year.
The Chinese air travel market has the potential to grow 10 times from where it is today, assuming China will reach a similar level of propensity to travel as Europe and the US and to become 4.3 the size of the US air travel market. This potential presents huge opportunities for the aviation industry and that in years to come the top 20 airports of the world will be dominated by Chinese airports.
In this FREE REPORT, OAG highlights the rapid growth of the airport sector in China, looks at the fact that Beijing Capital International Airport will overtake Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport as the world's largest facility and looks at the future potential of the industry.
To DOWNLOAD the analysis please and learn which airports are growing and how the airports in China are rapidly rising up the rankings, please [click here].
Related Content
