The southernmost part of Hainan has been reclaimed as part of plans to build a huge airport valued at 100 billion yuan (US$16.3 billion).

China Central Television reported the plan has already been endorsed and waiting approval at the State Oceanic Administration. The report on September 15 also added officials in the resort city of Sanya have confirmed the plan to build the complex on reclaimed land along Hongtang Bay’s coastal area.

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A go signal to pursue the plan has not yet been released, according to Sanya authorities and SOA officials. They also added that talks are still on their initial stages. Meanwhile, the media report cited sources from the Sanya City Hall saying the airport would be constructed on Hongtang Bay’s travel and leisure zone. The sources also added that the planned airport construction would also include building facilities offshore.

The proposed aviation development project will be put up on 49.5 hectares of reclaimed land. This would also include building hotels, a convention complex, schools and duty free establishments. The reclamation site was valued around 700 million yuan while the facilities were valued at 6 billion yuan, CCTV reports.

The report went on saying the new airport would be an extension of the Sanya Phoenix International Airport which was constructed in 1994. Phoenix Airport served an increasing number of passengers over the last four years - more than 10 million people annually - although it has only one runway. From 10.36 million annual passengers in 2011, the numbers increased to 11.34 million in 2012.

Last year, the number of passengers served on the airport reached 12.86 million. This year, the number of passengers has already reached 10 million as of September 8. This would mean that Sanya airport could easily break its passenger throughput target of 14 million by the end of 2014.

TagsHainan, Sanya Phoenix International Airport, China Central Television, Hongtang Bay