Airports want links with railways

More than 30 airports want to be better connected with the rail network in order to provide convenient transfers for travelers. Such a move would also help them tackle growing competition from the fast-growing high-speed rail network.

Wang Jian, secretary-general of the China Civil Airports Association, said, "Airports in eastern and southwestern China that have faced competition from high-speed railways are seeking improved connections."

The fast development of the nation’s high-speed rail network has been an issue of great concern for China‘s airports and air carriers.

By 2012, China will have around 13,000 kilometers of high-speed railways and by 2020, the network will be completed, affecting more than 80 percent of the civil aviation market.

English People’s Daily Online quoted Zhao Jian, a transport professor at Beijing Jiaotong University, as saying, "Seamless transfer at existing airports or railway stations is seldom possible at traffic hubs, and rebuilding them for this purpose would be virtually impossible."