GUANGZHOU, March 25 (Xinhua) -- Construction of a new airport in south China's Guangdong Province officially kicked off on Wednesday, adding a new aviation hub to the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA).

The Pearl River Delta Hub (Guangzhou New) Airport is located in Gaoming District of Foshan City, at the geographical center of Foshan, Zhaoqing, Jiangmen and Yunfu cities. It is expected to directly serve a population of over 20 million.

With a total investment of 41.81 billion yuan (about 6.07 billion U.S. dollars), the project will include two widely spaced parallel runways, a terminal building covering around 260,000 square meters and 94 aircraft stands. It is designed to handle an annual passenger throughput of 30 million, a cargo and mail throughput of 500,000 tonnes, and 260,000 aircraft takeoffs and landings.

Existing transport airports in the GBA are mainly located in the eastern part of the Pearl River Delta, according to an official with the Guangdong Airport Authority. The new airport will serve as a transportation hub for the western part of the GBA.

In 2024, the GDP of the GBA surpassed that of both the New York Bay Area and the San Francisco Bay Area, positioning it among the world's leading bay areas. Its economic output is expected to exceed 15 trillion yuan in 2025.

Airports in the GBA reported exceptional performance in 2025, handling over 230 million passenger trips and approximately 9.72 million tonnes of cargo and mail. The figures consolidated the region's status as one of the world's leading aviation hub clusters, according to operational data released by seven major airports in the region.

The Airports Council International projects that air passenger demand in the GBA will rise to 420 million by 2035. ■