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Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport aims to have 40 international routes by 2005, the Yangcheng Evening News reported Thursday (Jan. 29).

With the opening of a new international airport, passengers and cargo would no longer have to use airports in Hong Kong, Singapore and Shanghai, the report said, quoting airport officials.

The airport now operates 22 international routes to 21 foreign cities and 107 domestic routes to 77 cities.

One of the three busiest airports in China, GuangZhou lags far behind the other two in Beijing and Shanghai. Beijing had more than 87 international flights while Shanghai had 60, the report said.

To improve the situation, the airport company and the GuangZhou Municipal Government established a joint taskforce in 2003 to focus on attracting more overseas airlines, exploring the international aviation market and expanding cooperation with foreign counterparts.

They aim to increase the number of cooperating foreign air companies from nine in 2003 to 19 in 2005.

The airport's target this year is to open six to seven international routes. It has already had initial contact with air companies in Austria, the United States, Canada, Cambodia and Brunei.

Among the airport's international cooperators, Air France is the most influential.

The airport said it had 10 months of hard negotiations with Air France, including more than 200 e-mails, 17 formal letters and seven site investigations.

It would make an even greater effort to attract other influential companies, the airport said.

The efforts were expected to provide more opportunities for the local economy as the value created by international flights would at least triple those of domestic flights, the report said.

In the United States, a 7-day-a-week international flight would bring US$360 million in revenue to the local economy, the News said.