CRI听力:Environmental Study before Building Offshore Airport

Authorities in Sanya are considering building a new airport by reclaiming land from the sea to cope with the massive influx of tourists to the southern island resort.

Building airports using reclaimed land is not a new concept.

Airports have been built through this method in the UK and Japan, both of which have little land to work with.

But Aerospace Knowledge editor-in-chief Wang Yannan says building an airport through reclaimed land is never a simple process, and needs a large investment.

"An airport's major facility is its runways, which are heavily used. For example, after the construction of Japan's Kansai airport was completed in 1987, they had to cope with the settlement of the runway, which is getting serious year by year. Because the airport is built on the sea, the muddy seabed is giving way to the weight of the runway. Japan has to pour in large amounts of money to maintain the facilities."

He also notes many international airlines don't like to fly into Kansai because of its high operational costs.

While Sanya is being criticized for its newly-proposed project, construction of another airport being built on reclaimed land is already underway in the northern port city of Dalian.

Dalian's new airport is going to cost around 10-billion yuan, or some one and half billion US dollars, to complete.

Apart from the economic concerns, Professor Zeng Xiaoqi with the Ocean University of China says offshore airports can also affect the biodiversity of the sea.

"Firstly, the water is home to local marine life. They will lose habitat. The shallow beach and wetlands are where fish and shrimp fry grow; it's also where seabirds forage. That disappears after land is reclaimed. This is the direct impact. Indirectly, the noise during construction, the crush caused by intense sea waves and an increase in sediment can all change the underwater environment."

Professor Zeng says an environmental impact study is indispensable before any project like this can start.

Wang Yanan from Aerospace Knowledge says he agrees.

"The decision to build an offshore airport should be based on the approval from environmental authorities, because the construction could lead to irreversible damage to the environment."

Wang also says assessments need to be focused on the long-term, not only predicting the immediate problems, but also its ecological and economic impact to the region over the next 50 years.

For CRI, I'm Cao Yuwei.