ADPI wins a competition in China for the new terminal at Haikou Meilan International Airport

Haikou Meilan International Airport - © ADPI

On 6 July, ADPI (Aéroports de Paris Ingénierie), a subsidiary of Aéroports de Paris, was officially declared the winner of an international competition to design a new terminal at Haikou Meilan airport, located on Hainan Island, one of the most Southern parts of China.

Haikou Meilan International Airport – © ADPI

The competition, organised by Hainan Meilan International Airport Company (airport operator and subsidiary of the HNA Group, a large air transport company which has branched out into tourism, airport services and management) called for the highest levels of architecture and engineering.

ADPI was able to beat off its prestigious competitors: Landrum & Brown, East China Architectural Design and Research Institute, Guangdong province Design Institute, Wilkinson or even BIAD (the largest Design office in China).

To Guillaume Sauvé, Président and CEO of ADPI :

« This success proves ADPI’s know-how in terms of airport design. Thanks to the high quality and original design put forward, ADPI made the difference in this competition, which brought together some of the biggest names in airport architecture. This is another important step in our development in China following the contract for the expansion of Chongqing airport, secured in 2011»

The context

In 2011, Terminal 1 of Haikou Meilan airport handled almost 9 million passengers for a total capacity of 12 million passengers.

Given the significant increase in air traffic expected at Haikou, the terminal will soon be saturated.

Consequently, in agreement with the Chinese authorities, the airport management decided to launch a competition for the design of a second terminal (Terminal 2), located opposite Terminal 1.

This new terminal should open by 2020.

The competitors also had to devise a Master Plan describing the ultimate development opportunities of the airport; that is, with the addition of a third terminal to bring the airport total capacity to 62 million passengers by 2040.

Strict specifications

The new terminal’s design had to integrate the following features :

• Capacity to handle 18 million passengers.
  
• Authorised surface area: 250,000 to 290,000 m².
  
• Distribution of traffic: 88% domestic, 12% international.
  
• Hourly peak: 6,589 passengers.

An original idea giving priority to compactness

ADPI teams chose to fully exploit the site’s geographical and topographical constraints by working on the idea of compactness.

Indeed, on Hainan Island, where the beautiful landscape is protected and visited by multitudes of tourists, space is a scarce commodity.

By adopting an X shape, the new terminal offers a very high level of functional and aeronautical quality for its size.

This terminal was also designed with the aim of reducing passenger travel times by facilitating circulation whether on arrival or at departure, and at the same time minimising construction and operation costs for the operator.

The compactness created by grouping retail areas allows shops and restaurants to optimise commercial returns and ensures fluid circulation of planes for the airlines.

This new terminal will therefore meet a dual requirement: to put the passenger’s comfort and experience at the centre of the design and to create value for the operator.

It will give a new dimension to the terminal area, designed both as a highly efficient hub but also as a real urban centre.

With indoor and outdoor spaces for all users, this new airport must assert itself as a recognised international reference and as one of the main gateways into Southern China.