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Singapore Airlines (SIA) this afternoon became the first international airline to land in Shenzhen at the new Terminal B of the airport, which was officially opened yesterday.

Although the airport at the Special Economic Zone is a designated international gateway, it only served Chinese domestic carriers up until yesterday. Terminal A will now be a domestic terminal, served by about eight Chinese carriers; while Terminal B will be for international departures.

SIA's senior vice-president North Asia, Mr Ng Kian Wah, said the first flight into Shenzhen, China's fourth largest airport, had a load factor of about 55 per cent while the first departure from the southern Chinese city was full, as it was for the next few days because of the upcoming Lunar New Year holidays.

Shenzhen has great potential for business and tourism development, but it will take time to develop any new station, he said, adding the Tuesday, Friday, Sunday weekly service could cater to leisure travellers staying between three and four days. For the flight to be convenient in general for business travellers it should be at least four times a week.

Mr Ng said traffic growth from China posted a marginal increase in 2003 despite SARS. There was 100 per cent growth in December in Shanghai. Overall, it was 60 per cent growth in the months of November and December. Otherwise traffic would have dropped by between 20 and 30 per cent.

With the addition of Shenzhen, SIA now flies to four major Chinese gateways the other three being Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.

From March 28, Mr Ng said SIA will start thrice-weekly flights to Nanjing about 300km away from Shanghai.