Jiangbei Airport has undergone multiple major expansions. The latest expansion involves a new satellite terminal (Terminal 3B) and a fourth runway, both of which have finished construction as of 2025.[3] The first, second, and third phases of the airport came into operation in January 1990, December 2004, and December 2010, respectively. Terminal 2 is capable of handling 15 million passengers and Terminal 3A 45 million passengers annually.[4]
The civil aviation of Chongqing dates back to the 1920s. After the completion ofBaishiyi Airport in 1938, Chongqing became one of the four cities in China that had an airport in operation. In 1950, four flight routes from Tianjin, Chengdu, Guangzhou and Kunming to Chongqing became the earliest to be opened after the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949. In 1965, theCivil Aviation Administration of China opened an office inSichuan Province and Chongqing Airport became subject to it. The development of Chongqing's civil aviation then stopped until the 1990s.[6]
On 22 January 1990, the new airport, Chongqing Jiangbei Airport was opened to replace the old Baishiyi Airport's commercial flight functions, which remained open as a military airport.[citation needed] The development of the civil aviation resumed. In 1997, when the Chongqing area became a4th municipality of China, Civil Aviation Administration of China established a branch in Chongqing in the same year.[citation needed]
Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport contains three terminals: Terminal 1 (currently closed), Terminal 2A and 2B (domestic services), and Terminal 3A (domestic and international services). Terminals 1 and 2 are situated along the western perimeter of the airport, while the larger, newer Terminal 3A is located farther southeast of the former two.CRT line 10 and free terminal shuttle bus provide services between Terminal 2 and 3A.
Terminal 1 (T1) was the original passenger terminal building when Jiangbei Airport was first opened in 1990. It handled international services until its closure in August 2017.
Terminal 2 (T2A/T2B) contains two concourses (hence2A and2B). Concourse B was opened in 2004 (then referred to simply as T2) and Concourse A in 2010. The terminal has 30 gates and annual passenger capacity of 37 million.[citation needed] It currently handles domestic services. It offers concourse access toCRT Terminal 2 of Jiangbei Airport Station which is serviced by CRTLines 3 and10.
Terminal 3A (T3A) was opened in August 2017. The terminal is the largest of the three and has 66 gates. It has annual passenger capacity of 45 million.[citation needed] It currently handles domestic services and all international services. It offers concourse access toCRT Terminal 3 of Jiangbei Airport Station which is serviced by CRT Line 10.
Terminal 3B (T3B) was constructed as part of the fifth phase expansion project of the airport. It entered service in April 2025.[3][7][8] As a satellite terminal, it is connected to Terminal 3A via an undergroundmonorail line which acts as the airportsautomated people mover system; passengers departing from T3B go through check-in formalities and security check at T3A before taking the APM to T3B, while passengers arriving at T3B take the APM to T3A for baggage claim. Terminal 3B exclusively serve domestic flights; international flights remain at Terminal 3A.[7]
Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport is currently undergoing a major expansion, with a vision of obtaining a major international air hub and becoming the largest airport in western China by 2030.[9] Jiangbei Airport has been outlined ambitious growth plans, competing with Chengdu Airport, Kunming Airport, Wuhan Airport and Xi'an Airport to be recognized as the nation's fourth largest aviation hub[citation needed] (after those hubs in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou).
Aircraft movement is increasing rapidly post-2011 at Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport.
The expansion project Phase III, which included a second runway and an additional Terminal, T2, started construction in 2007 and completed in 2010. Major elements of the construction were adding a second runway of 3,200 meters (10,498 ft 8 in) (which was later lengthened to 3,600 meters (11,811 ft 0 in) to satisfy the landings and takeoffs of Boeing 747 and the demands of Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.) to the east of the existing runway, building a parallel taxiway in between the two runways, and setting up a visual aid lighting support system. It also added a second terminal building (T2) with an area of 86,000 square meters (930,000 sq ft), 41 apron aircraft parking stands, and a freight station and support facilities occupying an area of 20,000 square meters (220,000 sq ft). It cost CNY3.3 billion (US$538 million).[10]
The most recent expansion - Phase IV (dubbed the Eastern Expansion) - of Jiangbei Airport has been the biggest and contains the construction of a third runway and a new terminal, T3A, being 530,000 square meters (5,700,000 sq ft), more than double the size of the existing terminals (T1 and T2A/T2B) combined, costing CNY26.0 billion (US$4.1 billion).[citation needed] Most of T3A's construction work was completed by the end of 2016.[citation needed]
Departure Level of Terminal 3
The fifth phase of expansion for Jiangbei Airport is currently underway. It is expected to include a new terminal, namely T3B and a fourth runway. The satellite terminal is designed byZaha Hadid Architects and CSWADI, with interior design later updated byNordic Office of Architecture. The terminal will be connected via underground air-side monorail. This phase will be finished in the mid-2020s.[citation needed]
Phases for the expansion of Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport
Cathay Pacific CargoBoeing 747-400F aircraft at Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport
Cargo traffic increased at an average rate of 14% in the first six months of 2011, driven by exponential growth in international cargo. International cargo/mail volumes increased by 12 times from 2010 levels in the first half of 2011, to more than 9000 tonnes. In the second half of 2011, this growth rate is expected to be maintained, with Hewlett-Packard, Asus and other brands of large international IT production capacity supporting the increase, to an anticipated 60,000 to 80,000 tonnes of international cargo throughout the whole year.[11]
Before 2010, Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport's international destinations all terminated in East and Southeast Asia, including direct flights to Tokyo (has stop-over in Beijing or Shanghai), Seoul, Singapore, Bangkok, Phuket, Siem Reap, etc. In 2011,Qatar Airways opened a new route toDoha.[12]Finnair’s services toHelsinki were later added in 2012.[13]
With the new Terminal 3A in operation since August 2017,[14] the airport has had multiple new international routes with non-stop flights toLondon,Dubai,Sydney,Rome,Milan,Paris,Budapest, etc.[15] T3A and the third runway of Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport started operation at 06:00 on 29 August 2017. In the meantime, T1 was temporarily closed, T2 serve only domestic flights operated by Sichuan Airlines, West Airlines, China Express and Spring Airlines, and the remaining flights were transferred to T3A. In addition, the airport operates a free trans-shipment shuttle between T2 and T3A in a 24-hour operation.[16]
The airport's ground transportation is developing very fast. Four highways around the airport are either under construction or have been built, as part of plans to turn Chongqing into an integrated regional transport hub in western China.[120] There is a 300,000-square-meter (3,200,000 sq ft) GTC (Ground Transportation Centre) in front of T3A's main terminal building, providing transfer to inter-city rail, metro, buses, long-distance coach and taxis.
General plan of integrated transportation Hub at Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport:
One inter-city rail: Branch of Chongqing-Wanzhou Inter-City Rail
Three latitudinal roadways: (1) outer ring expressway, (2) relocated National Highway G319, and (3) southern connecting freeway
Four longitudinal roadways: (1) first freeway of CKG Airport (National Highway G210), (2) second freeway of CKG Airport (under construction), (3) Chongqing-Linshui expressway, and (4) northern connecting roadway
Airport Express lines are easily accessible at Terminals 2 and 3.
Route K01: Jiangbei Airport → Jiazhou (加州) → Damiao (大庙) → Shangqingsi (上清寺) → Chongqing Great Hall →Jiefangbei. It takes about 50 minutes from the airport to the city centre (Jiefangbei).
Route K02: Jiangbei Airport → Qixia Road (栖霞路) → North Square of Chongqingbei Railway Station. 40 minutes may be taken from the airport to the High-Speed railway station.
There is a transfer center for long-distance coaches between Terminal 2A and Terminal 2B, and it offers bus services to nearby cities in Sichuan and Guizhou Province, as well as suburban areas of Chongqing Municipality.
There is currently one airport freeway connecting the city center with the airport, and the second one is under construction and will be put into operation in the late 2016.[citation needed] The airport freeway is 23 kilometers long, but it usually takes as many as 30 minutes to get from the city center to the airport because of the heavy traffic.
Chongqing Rail TransitLine 3 runs from Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport'sTerminal 2 station, going through the city center viaLianglukou station and onto its final stop,Yudong, covering a distance of 60 kilometres (37 mi). It takes around 50 minutes to get to the city center (Lianglukou).[126]
Line 10, serves as the second metro line connecting the urban areas of Chongqing and the airport.[127] One station of Line 10is at Terminal 3 and the other is at Terminal 2. This line runs under Runways #1 (02L/20R) and #2 (02R/20L), connecting Terminal 2 and Terminal 3 in landside. Line 10 is the only metro line access to the new Terminal 3, while Line 3 will not be elongated to Terminal 3. Line 10 also reduces the travel distance between Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport andChongqingbei Railway Station, which can facilitate the transfers of passengers between air and rail.
Terminal 3A has a large underground railway station as part of its GTC (Ground Transportation Center). It is adjacent to the Chongqing Rail TransitLine 10 metro station. The railway station opened on 30 December 2022, initially with limited service to stations along theChongqing Railway Hub East Ring line, forming the Airport Branch of the railway line. It is one stop away fromChongqing North railway station, a major railway station servicing Chongqing.[128]
The station is designed to connect cities as far as 300 kilometers away, thus allowing Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport to serve a significantly larger population. The speed of the trains is designed to be 250 to 300 kilometers per hour, allowing journeys to take less than one hour from a relatively faraway locations within the Chongqing Municipality.[129]
On 8 July 2020, aRuili Airlines Boeing 737 flying from Xi'an to Kunming had to make an emergency landing at Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport after suffering a broken cockpit window and plunging 10,000 feet before pilots recuperated control of the aircraft. None of the plane's occupants were injured during the incident.[131]
On 12 May 2022, aTibet AirlinesAirbus A319-100, operating asTibet Airlines Flight 9833 from Chongqing toNyingchi Mainling Airport inNyingchi,Tibet, left the runway after an aborted takeoff because of an "abnormality". The planes engines then scraped on the lawn, causing them to break and burst into flames. All 113 passengers and 9 crew members evacuated safely, but 36 of them suffered from minor injuries.[132][133]
^"404".www.caacsri.com. Retrieved4 May 2025.{{cite web}}:Cite uses generic title (help)
^江北国际机场四期扩建工程今年底奠基 (in Simplified Chinese). Chongqing Morning Paper. 4 September 2011. Archived fromthe original on 6 April 2012. Retrieved1 October 2011.
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Trams in Chongqing
