(Yicai) July 16 -- The mega cross-sea bridge between Shenzhen and Zhongshan that recently opened in southern China is expected to significantly alter the competitive landscape of the aviation industry in the Greater Bay Area, according to experts.

With the opening of the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link, Shenzhen Baoan International Airport has doubled its hinterland to 120 kilometers to include Zhongshan, Guangzhou’s Nansha district, Jiangmen, and Zhuhai, Wang Guowen, director of the Logistics and Supply Chain Management Research Institute of the China Development Institute, told Yicai. Residents in these regions were earlier flying from airports in Guangzhou, Zhuhai, Foshan, and Macao, he noted.

The 24-km Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link officially started trial operations on June 30. It reduced the travel time between Shenzhen and Zhongshan and Nansha to 30 minutes from about two hours and between Shenzhen and Zhuhai and Jiangmen to one hour. Around 100,000 vehicles have been traveling daily on the bridge since its opening.

The opening of the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link has reduced transportation costs, enhanced the efficiency of traffic flow, and brought about the industrial transfer pattern and polarization effect, Wang said. Low-cost processing and manufacturing industries in Shenzhen may shift to cities like Zhongshan and Jiangmen, while their passenger and cargo resources may flow to Shenzhen, elevating the city’s status as a transportation hub, Wang added.

The Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link will impact the aviation hub status of airports in Guangzhou, Hong Kong, and Macao, Peng Peng, president of the Guangzhou Doctoral Science and Technology Innovation Research Association, told Yicai. However, the growth potential of Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport remains significant, he pointed out.

Meanwhile, the market share of Zhuhai Jinwan Airport is being squeezed, and the confidence in Hong Kong International Airport and Macao International Airport in competing for international and domestic passenger and cargo resources has faded because of the emergence of the new powerful competitor that is Shenzhen Baoan Airport, a regional economic expert told Yicai.

Shenzhen Baoan Airport logged a passenger throughput of more than 52.7 million last year, of which nearly 50.3 million flew on domestic flights, according to data from China’s Ministry of Transport. Its annual cargo and mail throughput rose 6.2 percent to 1.6 million tons from the previous year.

Editor: Futura Costaglione