Partnershipsmall

JALALABAD, Afghanistan, April 8 -- One police officer was killed and seven people were wounded in a bomb attack in Jalalabad, a city in eastern Afghanistan on Monday, a local source said.

"An improvised explosive device (IED) struck a police van running near the provincial Women Affairs Department and private Ariana University in Police District 3 roughly at 6:46 a.m. local time," the security source told Xinhua anonymously.

An investigation has been underway and further details will be shared with the media later in the day, he said. Among the wounded were six civilian and the injured were shifted to a regional government hospital in the city.

He blamed enemies of peace, referring to the Taliban militant group, for the attack.

Taliban militants, who ruled the country before being ousted in late 2001, have renewed armed insurgency in the country in recent years, killing government troops as well as civilians.

The city has been hit by serial bomb attacks within last week, in which four were killed, including a 22-year-old woman and two traffic police officers, and 31 others injured.

SEOUL, April 8 -- Cho Yang-ho, chairman of South Korea's biggest air carrier Korean Air, died Monday of a chronic illness at the age of 70.

Cho passed away early Monday morning (South Korea time) at a hospital in the United States, after suffering from a lung disease. He stayed in Los Angeles for the treatment since December last year, according to local media reports.

The eldest son of Cho Choong-hoon, the founder of Hanjin Group, served as chairman of the Korean Air since 1999 and chairman of the Hanjin Group since 2003.

The Hanjin Group is the country's 14th-biggest conglomerate that has Korean Air, budget carrier Jin Air, Hanjin KAL and other companies under its wing.

LOS ANGELES, March 31 -- The Mars helicopter of the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has completed its flight tests, according to a release of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) on Thursday.

In late January 2019, all the pieces making up the flight model of NASA's Mars helicopter, the actual vehicle going to the Red Planet, were put to the test.

Weighing in at no more than 1.8 kilograms, the helicopter is a technology demonstration project currently going through the rigorous verification process certifying it for Mars.

The majority of the testing for flight model had to do with demonstrating how it can operate on Mars, including how it performs at Mars-like temperatures, can the helicopter survive the cold temperatures on Mars.

All the testing is geared towards February 2021, when the helicopter will reach the surface of the Red Planet, firmly nestled under the belly of the Mars 2020 rover, according to the release.

A few months after its landing, the helicopter will be deployed and make test flights up to 90 seconds. It will be the first flight from the surface of another world, said the release.

"Gearing up for that first flight on Mars, we have logged over 75 minutes of flying time with an engineering model, which was a close approximation of our helicopter," said MiMi Aung, project manager for the Mars helicopter at JPL. "But this recent test of the flight model was the real deal. This is our helicopter bound for Mars. We needed to see that it worked as advertised."

While flying helicopters is commonplace here on earth, flying hundreds of millions of miles away in the thin Martian atmosphere is something else entirely, said the team.

Creating the right conditions for testing on earth presents its own set of challenges.

Aung said the Martian atmosphere is only about one percent the density of earth's. The team did the test in JPL's Space Simulator, a 7.62-meter-wide vacuum chamber, which created similar atmospheric density as on Mars.

Furthermore, to truly simulate flying on Mars required to take away two-thirds of earth's gravity, because Mars' gravity is that much weaker, said Teddy Tzanetos, test conductor for the Mars helicopter at JPL.

The team accomplished this with a gravity offload system -- a motorized lanyard attached to the top of the helicopter to provide an uninterrupted tug equivalent to two-thirds of earth's gravity.

The Mars helicopter will launch as a technology demonstrator with the Mars 2020 rover on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket in July 2020 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. It is expected to reach Mars in February 2021, according to NASA.

The 2020 rover will conduct geological assessments of its landing site on Mars, determine the habitability of the environment, search for signs of ancient Martian life, and assess natural resources and hazards for future human explorers.

Scientists will use the instruments aboard the rover to identify and collect samples of rock and soil, encase them in sealed tubes, and leave them on the planet's surface for potential return to earth on a future Mars mission, according to NASA.

SEOUL, March 29 -- Two F-35A stealth fighter jets were delivered Friday to South Korea for the first time, local media reported, citing the country's arms procurement agency.

The two stealth fighters arrived at an air base in Cheongju, some 140 km south of the capital Seoul, at about 2:35 p.m. local time (0535 GMT), the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) was quoted as saying.

The South Korean air force would reportedly put the two stealth fighters in full operation in April or May. A total of 10 F-35A stealth jets were scheduled to be delivered to South Korea by the end of this year.

In March 2014, South Korea decided to purchase 40 F-35A stealth fighters for their deployment by 2021 at the cost of 7.4 trillion won (6.5 billion U.S. dollars).

GABORONE, March 24 -- A pilot allegedly killed himself in a aircraft crash early Saturday night at Matsieng Aerodrome, some 30km north of Gaborone, the capital city of Botswana.

According to a statement issued by Matsieng Flying Club, it is rumoured that the pilot was involved in a domestic dispute with his wife early in the afternoon.

The deceased pilot was an uninvited guest at a private function that was held at the Matsieng Flying Club facility at Matsieng Aerodrome.

In the early evening, "the aircraft approached Matsieng Aerodrome from the direction of Sir Seretse Khama Airport and make a low level fly pasts from different directions past the Club facilities next to the Air Traffic Control tower," the statement said.

The club facility and Matsieng ATC tower was destroyed on impact. Fire triggered by the crash also destroyed 13 vehicles parked nearby.

"There was no serious injury to any person in the vicinity of the accident scene," the statement said.

RIO DE JANEIRO, March 11-- Brazilian airline Gol announced on Monday its decision to suspend the use of Boeing 737 Max 8 model planes in the company until further notice.

The Boeing 737 Max 8 model started operating in 2017, and in the past five months, was involved in two crashes, both without survivors.

In October 2018, 189 people died in an accident of Indonesian airline Lion Air, and on Sunday, a second plane belonging to Ethiopian Airlines crashed near Addis Ababa, killing all 157 people aboard.

Gol has seven Boeing 737 Max 8 planes, which operate along routes connecting Brazil to the United States, Caribbean and South American countries mostly.

The company said that passengers who bought tickets for flights with the Boeing model will be moved to other flights operated by Gol or other airlines.

The company noted that it has had no problems with the Boeing 737 Max 8 model so far, and has operated 2,933 flights using the model since June 2018.

Gol is not the only company which decided to suspend the use of the 737 Max 8 model. So far, many airlines around the world have grounded the Boeing 737 Max 8 planes.

TEL AVIV, March 5 -- An Israeli spacecraft on its maiden mission to the moon has sent its first selfie back to Earth, mission chiefs said on Tuesday.

The image showing part of the Beresheet spacecraft with Earth in the background was beamed to mission control in Yehud, Israel – 37,600 kilometers (23,360 miles) away, the project's lead partners said in a statement.

The partners, NGO SpaceIL and state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries, launched the unmanned Beresheet – Hebrew for Genesis – from Cape Canaveral in Florida on February 22.

The 585-kilogram (1,290-pound) craft took off atop a Falcon 9 rocket from the private U.S.-based SpaceX company of entrepreneur Elon Musk.

The trip is scheduled to last seven weeks, with the Beresheet due to touch down on April 11.

So far, only Russia, the United States and China have made the 384,000-kilometer (239,000-mile) journey and landed on the moon.

The Israeli mission comes amid renewed global interest in the moon, 50 years after American astronauts first walked on its surface.

China's Chang'e-4 made the first-ever soft landing on the far side of the moon on January 3, after a probe sent by Beijing made a lunar landing elsewhere in 2013.

After China earlier this year, and now Israel, India hopes to become the fifth lunar country in the spring with its Chandrayaan-2 mission. It aims to put a craft with a rover onto the moon's surface to collect data.

Japan plans to send a small lunar lander, called SLIM, to study a volcanic area around 2020-2021.

As for the Americans, who have not been back to the moon since 1972, a return is now the official policy of NASA, according to guidelines issued by President Donald Trump in 2017.

NASA, which has installed equipment on Beresheet to upload its signals from the moon, says it is inviting private sector bids to build and launch the U.S. probes.

The U.S. space agency plans to build a small space station, dubbed Gateway, in the moon's orbit by 2026, and envisages a manned mission to Mars in the following decade.

BEIJING, March 6 -- China's first carrier rocket for commercial use is scheduled to make its maiden flight in the first half of 2019, according to the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALVT).

The rocket, named Smart Dragon-1 (SD-1), is the first member of the Dragon series commercial carrier rockets family to be produced by CALVT, as China accelerates the development of the commercial space industry.

China's current carrier rockets all belong to the Long March family.

CALVT launched the design and development of the small-scale, solid-propellant rocket in February 2018. The SD-1, with a total length of 19.5 meters, a diameter of 1.2 meters, and a takeoff weight of about 23.1 tonnes, is capable of sending over 150 kg payloads to the solar synchronous orbit at an altitude of 700 km.

Since the rocket is designed primarily for commercial use, its cost for sending payloads per unit into orbit is lower than that of similar rockets in the international market, according to CALVT.

It takes only six months to produce one such rocket, and 24 hours to prepare for the launch. It can be used for launching either single satellite or multiple satellites at a time.

"In addition to the Smart Dragon solid-propellant carrier rockets, CALVT will also develop liquid-propellant commercial rockets, which will have a higher carrying capacity," said Tang Yagang, president of the China Rocket Co. Ltd., affiliated to CALVT.

"Innovation technologies will be introduced to promote the development of the commercial space industry in China and to meet market demand."

INDIANAPOLIS, the United States, Feb. 28 -- The United States announced the repatriation of 361 pieces of Chinese relics and artifacts to China at a ceremony here on Thursday.

Senior officials of the two countries celebrated the repatriation at an event held in the Eiteljorg Museum in Indianapolis, capital city of the U.S. state of Indiana.

The repatriation will bring back to China the largest batch of relics and artifacts from the United States since 2009, when the two nations signed a memorandum of understanding to enhance cooperation in this regard, according to Chinese officials.

Also at the event, officials from China's National Cultural Heritage Administration and U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) signed and exchanged Certificate of Transfer, which formalizes the transfer of custody from the United States to China regarding these cultural relics and artifacts.

Hu Bing, deputy director of China's National Cultural Heritage Administration, said at the ceremony that these relics and artifacts are an inseparable part of China's cultural heritage.

Hu said that the repatriation is the fruit of the long-term cooperation between the United States and China, and will further enhance the trust and understanding between the two peoples, as the two nations celebrate the 40th anniversary of their bilateral diplomatic ties.

The Chinese senior official added that the repatriation will also set a great example for global relics preservation efforts as it represents respect for international rules as well as for native nations' culture and history.

China appreciates U.S. efforts in relics repatriation, and expects further cooperation with the U.S. side on relics preservation and information sharing, law enforcement against looting and smuggling, as well as people-to-people exchange, so as to help promote more fair international practices and facilitate global cultural exchanges, he added.

Minister of the Chinese Embassy in the United States Li Kexin also hailed the U.S. commitment, extending "special appreciation" to the FBI and the U.S. State Department for their cooperation with China and hard work to repatriate the relics and artifacts to their native country.

"You have shown the best virtue of integrity of the American people," he said, adding "I believe this must have been done with tremendous efforts, for its scale and complexity."

"This repatriation is a good example and a gift to the 40th anniversary of the diplomatic relations between China and the United States. I believe it will resonate very positively in China," he added.

The Chinese officials told Xinhua that these repatriated relics and artifacts, found by the FBI's Indianapolis office in April 2014, were allowed to be sent back to China thanks to the five-year cooperation among the U.S. State Department, the FBI, China's National Cultural Heritage Administration and Embassy in the United States.

BEIJING, Feb. 27 -- Chinese scientists are exploring the possibility of setting up a space-based solar power station, which is expected to reduce pollution back on Earth and mitigate energy shortfalls, local media reported Wednesday.

Researchers have begun designs on a testing facility in Chongqing's Bishan district, Wednesday's China Daily reported, citing Xie Gengxin, deputy head of the Chongqing Collaborative Innovation Research Institute for Civil-Military Integration. The facility will be used to test the theoretical viability of the solar power station.

The test facility will occupy 13.3 hectares and demonstrate space transmission technologies while studying the effect of microwaves beamed back to Earth on living organisms, according to the paper. The initial investment of 100 million yuan ( about 15 million U.S. dollars) will be made by the Bishan district government.

The construction of the base will take one to two years and once it begins operation, scientists and engineers will build tethered balloons equipped with solar panels and use them to verify microwave transmission technologies.

The balloons will collect sunlight and convert solar energy to microwave before beaming it back to Earth. Receiving stations on the ground will convert such microwaves to electricity and distribute it to a grid.

The size and weight of such a station have yet to be determined because the research is still in a preliminary stage, the paper said.

If everything goes well, a Chinese solar power station will be put into orbit about 36,000 km above Earth and start generating power before 2040, the newspaper quoted Xie as saying.

BEIJING, Feb. 11 -- China-developed MA700, a new model of high-speed turboprop regional aircraft, is expected to conduct its maiden flight in 2019, according to its developer.

That means the "Modern Ark(MA)" regional airplane family will embrace its third member following the MA60 and MA600, said the state-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC).

The MA700 was developed by the AVIC XAC Commercial Aircraft (AVIC XACC) in Xi'an, in northwest China's Shaanxi Province.

It is designed with high speed, economic efficiency and adaptability to various airport conditions and air routes.

The model is part of China's plan to develop two trunk jetliners and two regional aircraft, with the other models being the C919 narrow-body and CR929 wide-body passenger aircraft, as well as the ARJ21 regional jetliner.

The MA700 is expected to receive the type certificate (TC) from civil aviation authorities by 2021, according to AVIC.

To date, the MA700 has received 185 intended orders from 11 customers at home and abroad.

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 4 -- Two people were killed and two others were hospitalized on Sunday after a small plane crashed in Orange County in Southern California, authorities said.

According to the Orange County Fire Authority, the small plane crashed into a single family house in a neighborhood of the city of Yorba Linda.

The small plane is a Cessna 414A which had just departed the Fullerton Municipal Airport when the incident happened under unknown circumstances, igniting a massive blaze that involved multiple homes, local news outlet KTLA TV station reported.

But Orange County Fire Authority clarified that only one structure was involved in the incident.

A video from the scene showed at least one structure was on fire and debris of the small plane burning on the street.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 28 -- The United States space agency NASA announced Monday that its Parker Solar Probe completed its first orbit of the Sun on Jan. 19, reaching the point in its orbit farthest from our star.

Now, the spacecraft, the fastest spacecraft in history, has begun its second orbits on course to the second perihelion or closest approach to the Sun on April 4, according to NASA.

During its mission lifetime of under seven years, the probe will complete 24 orbits of the Sun and fly within 6 million kilometers of the Sun's surface at closest approach.

The probe entered full operational status on the new year day, with all systems online and operating and has been delivering data from its instruments to Earth.

"We've learned a lot about how the spacecraft operates and reacts to the solar environment," said Andy Driesman from Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, which designed and managed the Parker mission.

The spacecraft's solid state recorder is being emptied of files that have already been delivered to Earth, in preparation for that next encounter.

Also, the spacecraft is receiving updated positional and navigation information and a new automated command sequence for next month, according to NASA.

Its second perihelion in April is expected to bring the spacecraft to a distance of about 24 million kilometers from the Sun, over half the previous close solar approach record set by Helios 2 spacecraft in 1976.

This is humanity's first close visit to a star and will revolutionize our understanding of the Sun's fundamental physics, including how particles and solar material are accelerated out into space at high speeds and why the Sun's atmosphere is so much hotter than the surface below.

SEOUL, Jan. 28 -- South Korea's artificial rain experiment over the country's western waters to reduce fine dust ended in failure, local media reported Monday citing the weather agency and the environment ministry.

Research institutes of the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) and the Ministry of Environment jointly carried out the artificial precipitation experiment in waters off the western coast Friday by dispersing silver iodide, a chemical that collects water vapor in clouds.

The dispersion increased the size of precipitation particles, but no rain or snow was observed. Only the weak misty rain was detected for several minutes from a mobile observation vehicle.

Despite the little success, the experiment was an opportunity to accumulate technology on the practical use of the artificial precipitation to reduce fine dust, the weather agency and the environment ministry were quoted as saying.

The agency and the ministry planned to conduct 14 more artificial rain experiments this year. The next one could be carried out at a time when the fine dust concentration is expected to rise.

MANILA, Jan. 22 -- A Chinese naval escort fleet, composed of three vessels, has concluded its five-day good-will visit to the Philippines.

The fleet, which comprised the missile frigates "Wuhu" and "Handan," and supply ship "Dongpinghu," made port calls Thursday at Manila Port, the last port call after completing their escort mission in the Gulf of Aden and the waters off Somalia.

It left Manila on Monday morning.

During the visit, Chinese naval servicemen and their Philippine counterparts visited each other's warships, held a shipboard reception and took part in friendly games. The vessels were also open to the locals during the visit.

Delfin Lorenzana, secretary of national defense of the Philippines, visited a Chinese navy ship on Sunday. Greeted by Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Zhao Jianhua, Lorenzana toured the ship and received a briefing about the Chinese Navy and the escort missions.

"The military relations between the two countries is an important part of the overall relationship between China and the Philippines," said Lorenzana, adding that he will support the continuous friendly exchanges and cooperation between the two navies.

After leaving the harbor, the two Chinese missile frigates and their Philippine counterpart held a drill.

China -- Located in Wudalianchi Scenic Area, NE China’s Heilongjiang Province, Shilong River has clear water and never freezes over in winter. The white snow on both sides of the crystal-clear river highlight the dark volcanic stones on the river bank, creating a spectacular view for visitors.

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 17 -- U.S. space technology firm SpaceX on Wednesday said it will build and test the prototype of its Mars spaceship in South Texas instead of the Port of Los Angeles, dealing another blow to the local economy days after the company's announcement of massive layoffs.

SpaceX will no longer build its Mars spaceship and rocket booster system at the Port of Los Angeles. Instead, work to build and test the prototype will be done in South Texas to "streamline operations," the Southern California-based company said in a statement.

Last year, SpaceX was permitted to build a giant new facility on a leased port land, which was expected to create hundreds of jobs in the region. But in a Jan. 7 letter provided to The Times, SpaceX Chief Financial Officer Bret Johnsen said the company would terminate the Terminal Island lease agreement.

The move came just days after SpaceX announced that it would lay off about 10 percent of its more than 6,000 employees.

"To continue delivering for our customers and to succeed in developing interplanetary spacecraft and a global space-based Internet, SpaceX must become a leaner company," said the statement of the company.

"This means we must part ways with some talented and hardworking members of our team... This action is taken only due to the extraordinarily difficult challenges ahead and would not otherwise be necessary," the company was quoted by media as saying.

According to reports, SpaceX is providing a minimum of eight weeks' pay and other benefits to the fired workers. A company representative said SpaceX remains financially strong and can continue to "manufacture and launch at a reliable cadence in the years ahead."

SpaceX was launched in 2002 by Elon Musk for space exploration. This year the company plans to test hop Starship, a prototype designed for human travel to Mars.

Phnom Penh , Jan. 10 - Air China launched its first ever direct flights from Beijing to Cambodia’s Phnom Penh on 7 January 2019, according to Chea Aun, spokesperson for State Secretariat of Civil Aviation, on Thursday.

Aun stated that the direct flight will take us just six hours from Phnom Penh to Beijing, compared to 10 hours spent laying over at other airports when there was no direct flights.

The flight which, operates three times per week by Airbus 320, is capable of carrying 200 nearly passengers, he added.

There are currently several airlines connecting destinations of Cambodia and China, but Air China’s new flight is the first one to directly link Khmer-Sino capital cities, which passengers will no longer have to go through the airports in Guangdong, China.

Beijing-Phnom Penh direct flights are launched amid the good relations between Cambodia-China, growth of Chinese tourists to Cambodia, and to boost tourism sector as part of the Kingdom’s economic growth.

The direct flights also aims to further strengthen the ties between the two countries, and facilitate tourists, investment, and  trade.

Eric Delobe who is in charge of Phnom Penh, Siem Reap and Sihanoukville International Airports said that Cambodia received a total of 8.8 million passengers last year, an increase of 25% compared to the year before, and expected to receive 10 million for 2018.

He added that besides travelers, the company also transported goods, which was a major factor in supporting Cambodian economic development. In 2017, approximately 60,000 tonnes of products passed through the airport, an increase of 40% compared to the year before, indicating high demand in air transport.

According to Eric, Cambodia Airport is working to ensure the kingdom’s airports connects to those in ASEAN and other major international airports. As of today, Cambodia has 60 destinations worldwide. 

BEIJING  - A Chinese space probe successfully touched down on the far side of the moon on Thursday, China’s space agency said, hailing the event as a historic first and a major achievement for the country’s space program.

The Chang’e-4 lunar probe, launched in December, made the “soft landing” at 0226 GMT and transmitted the first-ever “close range” image of the far side of the moon, the China National Space Administration said.

The moon is tidally locked to Earth, rotating at the same rate as it orbits our planet, so most of the far side - or “dark side” - is never visible to us. Previous spacecraft have seen the far side, but none has landed on it.

The landing “lifted the mysterious veil” of the far side of the moon and “opened a new chapter in human lunar exploration”, the agency said in a statement on its website, which included a wide-angle color picture of a crater from the moon’s surface.

The probe, which has a lander and a rover, touched down at a targeted area near the moon’s south pole in the Von Karman Crater after entering the moon’s orbit in mid-December.

The tasks of the Chang’e-4 include astronomical observation, surveying the moon’s terrain, landform and mineral makeup, and measuring the neutron radiation and neutral atoms to study the environment of its far side.

The control center in Beijing will decide when to let the rover separate from the lander, state news agency Xinhua said.

“It’s an important milestone for China’s space exploration,” Wu Weiren, chief designer of the lunar exploration program, said, according to Xinhua.

The probe also took six live species - cotton, rapeseed, potato, arabidopsis, fruit fly and yeast - to the lifeless environment to form a mini biosphere, Xinhua said.

A MAJOR SPACE POWER

The landing is the latest step for China in its race to catch up with Russia and the United States and become a major space power by 2030. Beijing plans to launch construction of its own manned space station next year.

While China has insisted its ambitions are purely peaceful, the U.S. Defense Department has accused it of pursuing activities aiming to prevent other nations from using space-based assets during a crisis.

Besides its civilian ambitions, China has tested anti-satellite missiles and the U.S. Congress has banned NASA from two-way cooperation with its Chinese counterpart over security concerns.

As competition accelerates in space, U.S. President Donald Trump seeks to create a new “Space Force” by 2020, as the sixth branch of the military.

But the private space race is also heating up, as numerous companies aim to commercialize space travel, such as California-based SpaceX, which has upended the industry with its low-cost reusable Falcon 9 rockets.

The United States is the only country to have landed humans on the moon, and Trump said in 2017 he wanted to return astronauts to the lunar surface to build a foundation for an eventual Mars mission.

NASA administrators have said people could be put on Mars by as soon as the mid-2030s, with the agency having landed eight spacecraft there, the most recent in November.

As soon as 2022, NASA expects to begin building a new space station laboratory to orbit the moon, as a pit stop for missions to distant parts of the solar system.

In 2003, China became the third country to put a man in space with its own rocket after the former Soviet Union and the United States, and in 2017 it said it was preparing to send a person to the moon.

China completed its first lunar “soft landing” in 2013, but its “Jade Rabbit” rover began malfunctioning after several weeks.

BEIJING, Jan. 5 -- Beijing's new international airport is expected to handle 45 million passengers annually by 2021 and 72 million by 2025, according to the country's civil aviation regulator.

Beijing Daxing International Airport, set to start operation this year, is designed to become "a large international aviation hub, a new driver of development for the country and a comprehensive transport hub in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region that supports the Xiongan New Area's development," according to a statement from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC).

Located 46 km south of downtown Beijing, the new airport is aimed at taking pressure off the overcrowded Beijing Capital International Airport in the northeastern suburbs. It sits at the junction of Beijing's Daxing District and Langfang, a city in neighboring Hebei Province.

While the new airport alleviates pressure, Beijing Capital International Airport will be positioned as an important hub for the Asia-Pacific region and serve the capital's core functions, the CAAC said.

Its passenger traffic is expected to be reduced to 82 million annually, according to the statement.

The airport handled over 100 million passengers last year, the world's second busiest airport in passenger traffic.

China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines will be the main carriers at the new airport. Overseas airlines can choose which airport to use or operate in both airports, according to the CAAC.