Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province, inaugurated a new futuristic-looking airport that will be able to serve at least 60 million passengers a year, informs South China Morning Post.
In this way, Chengdu becomes the third Chinese city after Beijing and Shanghai to have a second international airport. Its construction cost about 70 billion yuan, or 10.8 billion dollars.
The first flight from Chengdu Tianfu International Airport, operated by Sichuan Airlines, took off last Sunday for Beijing.
The new facility, which has three runways, two terminals and a total area of 710,000 square meters, is expected to significantly reduce the load on the city’s Shuangliu airport, which in 2020 was the second busiest in China after that of Guangzhou.
Chengdu Tianfu Airport is located about 50 kilometers from the city center and 84 kilometers from the National Giant Panda Breeding Center, the main tourist attraction in the region.
