(Yicai) Jan. 24 -- The Chinese civil aviation industry has expressed concerns about excessive expansion, after three airports in different Chinese regions opened new runways on the same day.

The growth of China's civil aviation industry in terms of passenger volume and capacity had already started slowing down to single-digit before Covid-19 and further dropped during the pandemic. Despite the passenger volume reaching a record high last year, the capacity growth remained slow.

As the high-speed growth cycle ended, airports should adjust their expansion strategies and match the pace of the industry, insiders told Yicai.

Yesterday, the second runway of Harbin International Airport in northern Heilongjiang province, the third runway of Wuhan Tianhe International Airport in central Hubei province, and the fourth runway of Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport in southern Guangdong province officially commenced operations.

Moreover, about 10 airports have already begun expanding or are planning to do so this year, with a total investment of hundreds of billions of Chinese yuan, equal to tens of billions of US dollars. For example, Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport is building its fifth runway, which will make it the world's largest airport, with a capacity of 140 million passengers and six million tons of cargo and mail per year.

The civil aviation industry's capacity is expanding at a slow pace mainly because airlines have been introducing fewer new planes to their fleet.

"In the three years of the pandemic, the average annual growth rate of newly-introduced passenger planes in China was only 2.1 percent, much lower than before 2019," Tang Chao, a civil aviation industry insider, told Yicai. "The rate is expected to remain below 3 percent this and next year as well."

Tang also explained how this situation is further worsened by the fact that airlines are retiring more old aircraft than before.

In addition to the aircraft replacement issue, airports may also face greater operating pressure if they expand at a faster pace than demand, insiders told Yicai. Moreover, they will likely start competing for flights.

The financial costs brought about by large expansion plans could exacerbate the pressure on the airport's profitability as well, according to other insiders. For example, Sichuan Province Airport Group invested CNY56.2 billion (USD7.7 billion) to build Chengdu's second international airport, which resulted in a cumulative loss of nearly CNY10 billion in the past five years.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Futura Costaglione