Shenzhen has raised the stakes in its effort to win back mainland travelers who have been patronizing Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) for cheaper international flights.

And, experts say the delay in the construction of a third runway at HKIA is allowing airports in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region to catch up with the SAR.

Shenzhen's metro operator - Shenzhen Metro Group - is expected to give a big lift to a Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport with the scheduled opening in June of Line 11, which will link up the city center and neighboring cities with the airport and offer the most advanced carriages and top-end services.

The new metro line has a planned route of 51.9 kilometers with 17 stations, and a maximum speed of up to 120 kilometers per hour.

It will have eight carts, including two first-class carriages designed for airport passengers. It will be the first of its kind in the mainland's subway system, featuring transverse seating and luggage racks, but passengers need to pay a premium for first-class tickets.

The maximum capacity of the eight carts is 2,564 and it's expected to take only half an hour to get to the airport from downtown. Shenzhen Metro plans to invest 2 billion yuan ($310 million) in 33 cart sets costing 7.75 million yuan each.

A section of the route - from Bihai Station to Airport Station - will offer passengers spectacular sea views.

Experts say Line 11, which will link the downtown Futian district with Nanshan and the Qianhai Free Trade Zone, will greatly complement Shenzhen airport's existing transportation network.

For years, Shenzhen residents have been using HKIA to take advantage of cheaper international flights, and Shenzhen airport is now striving to win them back as HKIA reaches saturation point.

"The long construction cycle for HKIA's third runway has enabled airports in the region to catch up," said Zheng Tianxiang, professor at the Center for Studies of Hong Kong, Macao and the Pearl River Delta at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou.

Last year, Shenzhen Airport received 1.66 million passengers from international routes, accounting for only 4 percent of the overall number of travelers. It now expects the number of passengers it handles to reach 55 million, 10 percent of whom will be on international routes.

Zheng, however, reckoned that it won't be smooth sailing for Shenzhen, and advised the city to cover new destinations along the Belt and Road route, such as Southeast Asia, the Middle East and South Asia, while HKIA's advantage lies in international routes to Europe and America.

Moreover, the market will also expand to neighboring cities as Shenzhen Metro's Line 11 will be extended to Dongguan.

At a meeting of officials from Shenzhen, Dongguan, Huizhou, Shanwei and Heyuan on Feb 18, the proposal to connect Line 11 with Dongguan Metro's Line 3 was approved. At the same time, it was also decided to link up Shenzhen with Huizhou via a subway.

Zheng expects the plan to attract more passengers from Dongguan and Huizhou, making it more convenient for them to be transported to Shenzhen Airport.

However, Zhang Yuge, director of the Economic and Social Development Research Center at Shenzhen-based think tank, the China Development Institute, argued that the impact of Shenzhen Metro's Line 11 on the development of the city's airport would be limited.

"It will reinforce the significance of Shenzhen airport and help improve its services, but the fundamental framework is difficult to change because its expansion of international routes will have to depend on the overall development plans of the Civil Aviation Administration of China," Zhang said.

grace@chinadailyhk.com

A view of Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport. The Shenzhen Airport plans to offer more international routes in the future, which may consequently attract more travelers who used to go to Hong Kong to catch international flights. Asia news photo

(HK Edition 03/01/2016 page9)