Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport


Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport is the main international airport serving the city of Chongqing in Southwestern China. It is located in Liangjiang, Chongqing, about north of the Chongqing urban center.
The airport is a major aviation hub for airlines in western China, including China Express, China Southern, Hainan Airlines, Sichuan Airlines and West Air. Chongqing is a focus city for Air China, Shandong Airlines, Tianjin Airlines and XiamenAir.
Jiangbei Airport has undergone multiple major expansions. The latest expansion involves a new satellite terminal and a fourth runway, both of which have finished construction as of 2025. 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.
It was the 7th busiest airport in mainland China by passenger traffic in 2024. Jiangbei Airport was awarded the best airport in its size category by Airports Council International in 2017 and again in 2018.
WWW cqa.cn

History

The civil aviation of Chongqing dates back to the 1920s. After the completion of Baishiyi 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, the Civil Aviation Administration of China opened an office in Sichuan Province and Chongqing Airport became subject to it. The development of Chongqing's civil aviation then stopped until the 1990s.
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. The development of the civil aviation resumed. In 1997, when the Chongqing area became a 4th municipality of China, Civil Aviation Administration of China established a branch in Chongqing in the same year.

Terminals

Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport contains three terminals: Terminal 1, Terminal 2A and 2B, and Terminal 3A. 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 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 contains two concourses. Concourse B was opened in 2004 and Concourse A in 2010. The terminal has 30 gates and annual passenger capacity of 37 million. It currently handles domestic services. It offers concourse access to CRT Terminal 2 of Jiangbei Airport Station which is serviced by CRT Lines 3 and 10.Terminal 3A 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. It currently handles domestic services and all international services. It offers concourse access to CRT Terminal 3 of Jiangbei Airport Station which is serviced by CRT Line 10.Terminal 3B was constructed as part of the fifth phase expansion project of the airport. It entered service in April 2025. As a satellite terminal, it is connected to Terminal 3A via an underground monorail line which acts as the airports automated 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.

Development

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. 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.

Airport expansion

The expansion project Phase III, which included a second runway and an additional Terminal, T2A, started construction in 2007 and completed in 2010. Major elements of the construction were adding a second runway of 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 with an area of, 41 apron aircraft parking stands, and a freight station and support facilities occupying an area of. It cost CNY3.3 billion.
Phase IV - of Jiangbei Airport has been the biggest and contains the construction of a third runway and a new terminal, T3A, being, more than double the size of the existing terminals combined, costing CNY26.0 billion. Most of T3A's construction work was completed by the end of 2016.
The fifth phase of expansion for Jiangbei Airport is the most recent, and final major expansion for the airport. It includes a new satellite terminal, namely T3B, a fourth runway, expanded remote aircraft stands and cargo facilities. The satellite terminal is designed by Zaha Hadid Architects and CSWADI, with interior design later updated by Nordic Office of Architecture. It is the world’s largest standalone satellite hall and second largest satellite terminal overall. The terminal is connected via underground air-side monorail, maintained and operated by Chongqing Rail Transit. This phase was completed in 2025.
Note: Remote bays include the ones that serve the air freighters.

Surge in cargo traffic

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.

New international routes

Before 2010, Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport's international destinations all terminated in East and Southeast Asia, including direct flights to Tokyo, Seoul, Singapore, Bangkok, Phuket, Siem Reap, etc. In 2011, Qatar Airways opened a new route to Doha. Finnair's services to Helsinki were later added in 2012.
With the new Terminal 3A in operation since August 2017, the airport has had multiple new international routes with non-stop flights to London, Dubai, Sydney, Rome, Milan, Paris, Budapest, etc. 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.

Statistics

Source: CAAC
Number of domestic and international/regional passengers
Source: CQA

Ground transportation

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. There is a GTC 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
  • Two lines of Chongqing Rail Transit: Line 3 and Line 10
  • Three latitudinal roadways: outer ring expressway, relocated National Highway G319, and southern connecting freeway
  • Four longitudinal roadways: first freeway of CKG Airport, second freeway of CKG Airport, Chongqing-Linshui expressway, and northern connecting roadway

Buses

Airport express bus routes

Airport Express lines are easily accessible at Terminals 2 and 3.

Long-distance coach services

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.

Freeways and roads

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. 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.

Parking

The airport has four parking lots:
  • International Parking Lot, located in front of Terminal 1
  • Domestic Parking Lot, located in front of Terminal 2
  • Underground Parking Lot, located under Terminal 2
  • Central Parking Garage, located in the GTC in front of Terminal 3
All together, the airport can accommodate about 7,300 cars at one time.

Chongqing Rail Transit (CRT)

Chongqing Rail Transit Line 3 runs from Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport's Terminal 2 station, going through the city center via Lianglukou station and onto its final stop, Yudong, covering a distance of. It takes around 50 minutes to get to the city center.
Line 10, serves as the second metro line connecting the urban areas of Chongqing and the airport. One station of Line 10 is at Terminal 3 and the other is at Terminal 2. This line runs under Runways #1 and #2, 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 and [South Square of South Square of Chongqingbei Railway Station station|Chongqingbei Railway Station station|Chongqingbei Railway Station], which can facilitate the transfers of passengers between air and rail.

National Railway and Intercity Trains

[China Railway] (Intercity trains)

Terminal 3A has a large underground railway station as part of its GTC. It is adjacent to the Chongqing Rail Transit Line 10 metro station. The railway station opened on 30 December 2022, initially with limited service to stations along the Chongqing Railway Hub East Ring line, forming the Airport Branch of the railway line. It is one stop away from Chongqing North railway station, a major railway station servicing Chongqing.
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.

Other facilities

The headquarters of China Express Airlines are on the airport property.

Incidents

  • On 8 July 2020, a Ruili 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.
  • On 12 May 2022, a Tibet Airlines Airbus A319-100, operating as Tibet Airlines Flight 9833 from Chongqing to Nyingchi Mainling Airport in Nyingchi, 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.