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Shanghai Pudong International Airport has won government approval to build two more runways at a cost of 7.2 billion yuan (US$1.1 billion), China's civil aviation regulator said yesterday.The fourth and fifth runways for the airport, operated by Shanghai International Airport Co Ltd, will cost 2.6 billion yuan and 4.7 billion yuan each, the Civil Aviation Administration of China said on its Website.
The new runways will enable the world's third busiest air hub by passenger volume to handle 650,000 flights a year by 2020.
The National Development and Reform Commission, China's top economic planning body, approved the plan in late November, the regulator said.
The fourth runway, alongside the second runway, will be 3,800 meters long and capable of serving the world's largest plane, Airbus 380, the regulator said.
A new control tower and a new air traffic control building will be built along with the 3,400-meter fifth runway.
The country's overall passenger traffic is likely to reach 450 million by 2015, CAAC Director Li Jiaxiang said in a statement in March. Last year, the nation's air travelers totaled 267 million.
