Chengdu-Tianfu International Airport opens

On 27 June, the new and second airport of Chengdu, Tianfu International Airport, was officially opened. The first departing flight was a Sichuan Airlines-flight bound for Beijing. The airport features three runways and two terminals and has a capacity of 60 million passengers per year.

Construction of the airport commenced in May 2016 and the airport will become the third largest hub in China after Beijing and Shanghai. The city's current airport, Shuangliu is set to become a mainly domestic airport with a few selected international destinations, similar as the set-up of Shanghai-Hongqiao and Pudong Airport. Eventually, the airport has room to add two more terminals and three more runways, which will boost the airport's capacity to more than 90 million passengers per year.

Over the coming months, operations will gradually ramp-up at the airport, with airlines transferring their flights from Shuangliu Airport to the new Tianfu Airport. Tianfu also features a new Air China-base, with a new Airbus-maintenance facility, a cargo-hub and aviation food production facility.

Photo by Tianfu International Airport.