Chengdu Tianfu International Airport

Chengdu Tianfu International is the newest of China's mega-airports, opened in June 2021 as part of Beijing's program to build a second dedicated hub in each of the country's largest metropolitan regions. Together with the older Chengdu Shuangliu (CTU), it makes Chengdu one of only three Chinese cities — alongside Beijing and Shanghai — with a dual-international-airport system. TFU serves 59 airlines on 556 routes reaching 207 destinations, numbers already exceeding most Asian capital airports just a few years after opening. The site sits 50 km (31 mi) southeast of central Chengdu in Jianyang, built on a 52 sq km (20 sq mi) parcel designed to accommodate six runways and 120M annual passengers at ultimate build-out. Phase 1 delivered three runways, including a 13,123 ft (4,000 m) Code F runway capable of handling the A380, and two terminals (T1 and T2) arranged in a distinctive configuration resembling sunbirds in flight, a reference to the Jinsha bronze artifact found near Chengdu. Terminal 1 handles international; Terminal 2 handles domestic. Sichuan Airlines and Air China operate the largest bases, with China Eastern, China Southern, and Chengdu Airlines maintaining substantial operations. Tianfu serves as China's primary western aviation gateway to Europe, the Middle East, and South Asia — the shortest great-circle distance from inland China to those regions — and a growing onward-connection point for belt-and-road corridor traffic. The airport is integrated with a dedicated high-speed rail station served by trains up to 350 km/h (217 mph) linking it to central Chengdu and the broader Sichuan network.