The Taizhou airport will soon enter into a new era of development as an expansion plan was recently approved by the Zhejiang Provincial Development and Reform Commission.

According to the plan, the airport will add a 2,500-meter-long and 38-meter-wide taxiway, a 35,000 square-meter terminal tower, 16 aircraft stands, as well as other supporting facilities such as an air traffic control building.

The airport authorities said that the project will occupy 943 mu (62.86 hectares) and will cost 3.628 billion yuan ($541.5 million), with the construction estimated to take three years.

After the expansion is completed, the passenger throughput of the airport is expected to reach 2.5 million annually, while the freight throughput is expected to reach 25,000 metric tons.

By 2040, the figures for passenger and cargo throughput are expected to reach 5 million and 50,000 metric tons, respectively.

Established in 1954, the Taizhou airport was the first civil airport to be built in a county-level city in China. In just 7,850 square meters, it can accommodate no more than four aircrafts at once.

A conceptual rendering of the Taizhou airport after expansion. [Photo/taizhou.com.cn]