Recently, the Guangzhou airport economic regulations came into force, which is the first local regulation issued by China to promote the development of airport economy at the municipal level.
With the continuous development of economic globalization, regional economic integration and urbanization, airport economy, a new economic form, is gradually rising in China and has become a new growth pole to drive the surrounding regions and promote the high-quality development of urban economy.
Guangdong Hong Kong Macao Great Bay area has obvious geographical advantages, strong industrial foundation, and has aviation hubs with international influence such as Hong Kong, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, which has laid a solid foundation for the development of airport economy. Recently, with the formal entry into force of RCEP (regional comprehensive economic partnership agreement), the airport economy in Dawan district has also ushered in greater development opportunities.
Gao Yuanyang, director of Beihang general aviation industry research center, believes that “if the airport in Dawan district is regarded as a whole, it will be a very important port in China and a connecting port of China’s international cycle. It not only plays an important role in import and export, but also radiates outside China.”
Luo Liangsheng, Dean of Continuing Education College of Guangzhou Civil Aviation Vocational and technical college, said in an interview with the 21st Century Business Herald reporter that Dawan district has a high degree of openness in the development of air transport industry and is one of the most important areas of China’s airport economy. The five airports in Dawan District have formed different characteristics. He believes that the driving effect of airport economy on the region is actually the integration of airport economy and regional economy. At present, with the continuous upward economy of Dawan District, the development of airport economy in Dawan district will have more potential.
Many airports in Dawan district can work together
Airport economy refers to taking the transportation airport as the core, relying on its radiation, attracting production factors to the airport and its surrounding areas, and gradually forming a new economic model around the airport with airport oriented industry as the leading industry and the common development of a variety of derivative and related industries.
As early as 1992, China’s airport economic development began to take shape. The Southwest Airport Economic Development Zone planned to be established in Chengdu, Sichuan Province is the prototype of China’s airport economic zone. Since then, China’s airport economy “blossomed everywhere”.
According to the China airport economic development index 2021 jointly issued by the Comprehensive Transportation Research Institute of the national development and Reform Commission, Henan Provincial Collaborative Innovation Center for aviation economic development and China Urban Airport Economic Research Center in September 2021, by the end of 2020, there were 17 National Airport Economic Zones and 41 local airport economic zones in 31 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions (excluding Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan). At the same time, 89 airport economic zones have been clearly planned and started construction, and some cities are actively planning airport economic zones.
This means that by the end of 2020, about 60% of China’s civil aviation airports are equipped with airport economic zones, which can be seen from the strong momentum of airport economic development.
In the development process of China’s airport economy, Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Zhengzhou and other places occupy the first mover advantage. In this context, how should cities in Dawan District compete for the blue ocean of airport economy?
Luo Liangsheng pointed out that there are three main comparative advantages of the airport economy in Dawan District: first, the economic foundation accumulated by relying on reform and opening up; Second, the cutting-edge high-end manufacturing industry in Dawan District, which itself is a part of the airport economy; Third, Hong Kong and Macao play a leading role in the world in tourism, convention and exhibition economy. At the same time, Hong Kong is also a world logistics center and financial center.
In an interview with the 21st Century Business Herald reporter, Gao Yuanyang said that the advantages of Dawan district are reflected in its multiple airports, coordinated development and multi-point radiation. Compared with only one or two airports in Beijing, Zhengzhou and Chengdu, Dawan district has an advantage in the number and scale of airports.
so far, a total of 13 airports have been built in Dawan District of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao. Among them, Hong Kong airport, Macao airport, Guangzhou Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport Company Limited(600004) , Shenzhen Bao’an airport and Zhuhai Jinwan airport are known as the five major airports in Dawan district.
In recent years, Dawan district has accelerated the improvement of the infrastructure support capacity of the five major airports. Hong Kong International Airport is actively promoting the construction of the three runway system, Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport Company Limited(600004) phase III expansion project has started construction, Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport has comprehensively promoted a new round of expansion project, Zhuhai Airport reconstruction and expansion project has been promoted, and the layout of international routes of the airport has been vigorously optimized. As the core of the airport economic zone, the airport will become the power engine to promote the airport economic development of Dawan district and accelerate the agglomeration of high-end airport industries.
Guangzhou Airport Economic Zone with Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport as the core was approved as a National Airport Economic Demonstration Zone in 2016. The data show that from January to December 2021, Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport Company Limited(600004) passenger throughput was 40.257 million person times, cargo throughput was 2.045 million tons, and aircraft took off and landed 362000 sorties. It is worth noting that in 2020, under the influence of covid-19 pneumonia epidemic, the passenger throughput of Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport Company Limited(600004) will still reach 43.768 million person times, ranking as the busiest airport in the world.
At the same time, nearly 20000 enterprises have settled in Guangzhou Airport Economic Zone, forming an aviation related industry cluster supported by six airport industries of air transportation, aircraft maintenance and manufacturing, cross-border e-commerce, aviation headquarters business, aircraft leasing and general aviation, which has become an important industrial development platform in Guangzhou.
Shenzhen Bao’an airport also achieved good results. In 2021, Shenzhen Airport Co.Ltd(000089) airport’s three indicators ranked first among major airports in China: passenger throughput of 36.358 million person times, ranking third in China; The cargo and mail throughput was 1.568 million tons, ranking third in China, with a year-on-year increase of 12%; 318000 flights took off and landed, ranking third in China, recovering to 85.9% in 2019. Meanwhile, Shenzhen will vigorously develop and build a new airport city, expand and strengthen productive service industries such as business exhibition, aviation service and science and technology service, and accelerate the development of high-tech industries such as equipment manufacturing and science and technology R & D.
According to China airport economic development index 2021, Guangzhou and Shenzhen ranked third and fourth respectively in the overall index and ranking of China Airport Economic Zone Development in 2020; In the general index and ranking of China’s National Airport Economic Zone in 2020, Guangzhou ranked second, second only to Beijing; In the general index and ranking of China’s national quasi Airport Economic Zone in 2020, Shenzhen ranked second, second only to Shanghai.
How to develop airport economy in Dawan District
One airport and multiple industries are the ripple effect of airport economy.
According to the regulations of Guangzhou Municipality on airport economy, Guangzhou Airport Economic Zone focuses on the development of airport high-end industries such as aviation manufacturing and maintenance, high-end manufacturing, business exhibition, aviation logistics, cross-border e-commerce, aviation finance, biomedicine and headquarters economy, cultivates a new generation of airport new economy such as information technology, artificial intelligence and digital economy, and builds a new airport economy based on air transportation and logistics, Modern airport economic system with airport industry as the main body.
The comprehensive bonded zone is also a major support for Guangzhou airport economy. Ma Jun, deputy general manager of Guangzhou airport comprehensive free trade zone investment and Operation Co., Ltd., once introduced that Guangzhou Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport Company Limited(600004) comprehensive free trade zone was officially approved by the State Council on July 3, 2010. It is one of the few comprehensive free trade zones in China that includes airport port operation area and realizes the operation of “zone port integration”.
In the bonded area, different zones correspond to different industrial functions. Located at the north end of Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport Company Limited(600004) , the central zone of the bonded zone focuses on the development of bonded logistics, aviation maintenance, aircraft leasing, aviation training, bonded exhibition and trade of high-end commodities, cultural creativity and other businesses with strong air orientation and high added value; Located in Zhongluotan Town, Baiyun District, South District focuses on the development of R & D and manufacturing of biomedicine, medical devices and electronic information, bonded exhibition and trade of high-end commodities, B2B2C cross-border e-commerce and other businesses.
According to the 14th five year plan for Guangzhou airport economic development, by 2025, the added value of Guangzhou airport economy will exceed 100 billion yuan, Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport Company Limited(600004) comprehensive bonded zone will exceed 100 billion yuan in the future, and the commodity value of airport cross-border e-commerce hub port will exceed 300 billion yuan.
In Shenzhen, on January 4, Shenzhen Airport Co.Ltd(000089) four key projects, including freight forwarding warehouse 1 in the South freight transport zone and the South round slip project of runway 1, were started. The total investment of the project is about 1.2 billion yuan, covering Shenzhen Airport Co.Ltd(000089) freight infrastructure support, aircraft operation in the flight area and airport digital construction, which will vigorously support the implementation of Shenzhen Airport Co.Ltd(000089) “passenger”, “cargo” and “intelligence” strategies. In general, international logistics, cross-border e-commerce and intelligent manufacturing will still be the main driving points of Shenzhen airport economy.
According to Gao Yuanyang, generally speaking, the airport economic zone will attract three categories of industries. The first is the passenger transport and logistics industry, aviation parts manufacturing, aviation maintenance and other industries directly related to the airport; The second is aviation oriented enterprises, that is, various production raw materials or products that rely on air transportation, such as Foxconn attracted by Zhengzhou airport, as well as other industries such as electronics, high-end equipment, biopharmaceutical and so on; The third is the service industry, such as convention and exhibition, business and residential, high-end hotel industry. In the future, the airport economic zone may become another business center of the city, or even a tourism and shopping center.
Luo Liangsheng further said that the driving effect of airport economy on the region is actually the integration of airport economy and regional economy. “For example, Hong Kong and Macao are mainly based on the high development of the local tertiary industry, and the airport economy is integrated with this trend. In fact, several airports in the mainland are Co located with the tertiary industry and high-end manufacturing industry, and the range of airport economy industries driven by them is also different.”
It is worth noting that while playing the “main force”, we should also remember the importance of “assistance”. In the process of airport economic development, general aviation is also an important part. The outline of the development plan of Guangdong Hong Kong Macao Bay area clearly proposes to deepen the reform of low altitude airspace management, accelerate the development of general aviation and steadily develop cross-border helicopter services.
Zhuhai Aviation Industrial Park is committed to becoming an aviation manufacturing base with strong competitiveness in the aviation field outside China. Zhuhai Aviation Industrial Park is vigorously developing industries such as general aviation manufacturing, general aviation and business aircraft operation and supporting services.
“In the past, we paid more attention to large airports and large air transport, while ignoring the impact of general aviation on the region. General aviation is very helpful for future urban services, including emergency rescue, urban public transport construction and sightseeing. Recently, UAM (urban air transport) was proposed The concept also has great room for development. In order to alleviate land traffic congestion, cities can use more small airports, small aircraft and even unmanned aerial vehicles to help the transportation between adjacent cities and within cities. ” Gao Yuanyang believes that these new transportation concepts may help the airport economic development of Dawan district and alleviate the urban congestion caused by express logistics in the future.
Five airports cooperate to build a world-class airport group
Previously, CAAC issued the implementation opinions of CAAC on supporting the coordinated development of civil aviation in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao Bay area, which proposed that Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao Bay area will basically be built into a world-class airport group by 2025.
To build a world-class airport group, how should the major airports in Dawan district make efforts?
“In the multi-point radiation mode, it can better penetrate the surrounding areas. The penetration efficiency of the airport economic zone is higher than that of the airport with single point radiation. It is like throwing stones into the river. The ripples produced by throwing one stone are certainly not as good as throwing multiple stones.” Gao Yuanyang pointed out.
Therefore, the number and scale advantages of airports in Dawan district have become the key factors in building a world-class airport group.
In addition, Dawan district needs to realize the interconnection of major airports to a greater extent. As early as 2020, Dawan district has been laid out here. The memorandum of strategic cooperation between the General Administration of customs and the Civil Aviation Administration of China on promoting the facilitation of air port clearance signed that year determines that the General Administration of customs and the Civil Aviation Administration of China will jointly promote the free flow of inbound and outbound goods and goods between the five airports in Dawan District, expand and improve the functions of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao air ports and explore innovative customs clearance modes, Convenient land air transport between airports in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao.
Dawan district will also optimize the layout of airport clusters in Dawan district and promote Airspace Coordination. This is the key planning content mentioned in the planning outline of comprehensive three-dimensional transportation network in Guangdong Province released last December. The document specifically specifies that it is necessary to build an international aviation hub airport with Guangzhou Baiyun, Shenzhen Bao’an and the Pearl River Delta hub (Guangzhou New) as the core and facing the world; Improve the regional hub airports facing the whole country, focusing on four airports such as Zhuhai Jinwan and Huizhou Pingtan.
Many experts interviewed believe that the synergy of major airports in Dawan district is still weak, and differentiated development is the direction of major airports.
Gao Yuanyang pointed out that the major airports in Dawan district are relatively close, and the competition and cooperation between them will be closer; On the other hand, major airports should not only integrate, but also develop differently, so as to maintain their own advantages. “At present, several major airports in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao have not consciously differentiated themselves. I think this is one of the development directions of Dawan airport in the future.”
Luo Liangsheng also stressed that at present, the major airports in Dawan district are still dominated by competition, especially around the competition of open space resources. This relationship will exist for some time, but it is also being coordinated through service standards, alliance operation and so on. Based on this, he believes that “the synergy of the five airports should be a competitive synergy, but in fact, it is a very benign relationship. If it is a dominant company or there is no competition, it will be very difficult to build a world-class airport group.”
