THE 'ghost' airport of Ciudad Real, built at a cost of just over EUR1 billion (US$1.1 billion), and located 160 kilometres south of Madrid, is set to be revived as a cargo hub for Chinese goods.

The 'white elephant' airport was built before the economic slump engulfed the country and was opened in 2008, but went bust in June 2010 and has been out of service since April 2012, Lloyd's Loading List reported.

Ciudad Real Airport was but has been snapped up at an auction by Chinese consortium, Tzaneen International, which was the sole bidder, for the paltry sum of EUR10,000.

The consortium has acquired some of the barely-used facilities including a 4,000 metre-long runway which can accommodate the likes of the giant passenger plane, the A380, aircraft hangars and control tower, as well as part of the land the airport is built on in the Castilla-La Mancha region.

Tzaneen has indicated that it also wants to purchase the terminal building and the car parks and is ready to spend up to EUR100 million in the project because "there are several Chinese companies that want to make the airport the European point of entry for cargo."

The purchase of the airport "is the first step towards creating a hub in the Ciudad Real area specialising in the transport, storage and distribution of cargo from various geographical zones, with special attention to the Chinese market, as a bridgehead for manufactured products as well as semi-manufactured goods which could be finished in Castilla La-Mancha," the consortium explained.

Given that Tzaneen's offer falls considerably short of 70 per cent of the EUR40 million asking price, the local court presiding over the sale process has given until September 15 for the submission of better offers.