Fuzhou Yixu International Airport (福州义序机场) was a formerly civil and military dual-use airport located in the south side of Gaogai Mountain, Nantai Island,

Cangshan District Cangshan District (, Fuzhou dialect: Chŏng-săng) is one of 6 urban districts of the prefecture-level city of Fuzhou, the capital of Fujian Province, China. History * Cangshan District was formerly known as "Guatengshan" (literally, "Melon Vin ...

, near downtown

Fuzhou Fuzhou (; , Fuzhounese: Hokchew, ''Hók-ciŭ''), alternately romanized as Foochow, is the capital and one of the largest cities in Fujian province, China. Along with the many counties of Ningde, those of Fuzhou are considered to constitute t ...

Fujian Province Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its cap ...

. It was the main airport of the city prior to the opening of Changle International Airport, which opened on June 23, 1997.

Location

Yixu Airport was located at the southern foot of Gaogai Mountain, surrounded by mountains, such as Yisu mountain, Wuhu Mountain, Dading Mountain. The air environment/quality is poor and often foggy, hence landing there could sometimes be hard. Due to frequent bad weathers and typhoons, rainfall and thunderstorms are very common. It is located near the city center, resulting in air pollution.

History

As Fuzhou was occupied by the Japanese for the second time in 1944, in order to compete with the Allied forces for air supremacy, the Japanese army accelerated the construction of an airport in the occupied area, and Fuzhou Airport was one of them. At that time, the Japanese forces forced villagers in the Cangshan area of Fuzhou near the airport to build the airport, including even child labors . After the end of the

Second world war World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, it was taken over by the Air Force of the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...

. It was converted to civilian use on January 15, 1948 and taken over by the Chinese People's Liberation Army a year later, and it became a military-civilian airport on December 1, 1974. At this time, Yixu Airport was a simple, small airport. There were no blind landing facilities in the field and basic equipment was very poor, and it could only be used by small aircraft such as

Viscount A viscount ( , for male) or viscountess (, for female) is a title used in certain European countries for a noble of varying status. In many countries a viscount, and its historical equivalents, was a non-hereditary, administrative or judicial ...

and

Antonov 24 The Antonov An-24 (Russian/Ukrainian: Антонов Ан-24) ( NATO reporting name: Coke) is a 44-seat twin turboprop transport/passenger aircraft designed in 1957 in the Soviet Union by the Antonov Design Bureau and manufactured by Kyiv, Irk ...

during the day. The airport built a larger terminal building in 1979, covering 5142 square meters of ground. In March 1980, the Fujian Provincial People's Government decided to expand the airport, and the main project was completed on February 25, 1982. After the expansion, the main runway of the airport has been extended to 2,400 meters, thickened by 30 cm, aprons and parallel slides have been enlarged, and blind landing equipments and

radars Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, ...

has been added, making it a medium-sized one that can be used day and night for large aircraft such as

Trident A trident is a three- pronged spear. It is used for spear fishing and historically as a polearm. The trident is the weapon of Poseidon, or Neptune, the God of the Sea in classical mythology. The trident may occasionally be held by other marine ...

and

Boeing 737 The Boeing 737 is a narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Renton Factory in Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the twinjet retains the 707 fuselage width and six abreast seating with two un ...

. The airport opened many domestic and foreign air routes and hence, once became a profitable airport in China. In 1996, the passenger throughput was 2.05 million . However, due to the limitation of clearance conditions, the airport could not be expanded and modernized further. Frequent takeoffs and landings caused cracks in the runway and sinking of the foundation. Yixu Airport was turned into a pure military airport after the opening of Fuzhou Changle International Airport in 1997.

Facilities

Before 1982, the runway was only 1,900 meters and 15cm thick, and basic equipment and building quality was very poor. After the

reform and opening up The Chinese economic reform or reform and opening-up (), known in the West as the opening of China, is the program of economic reforms termed " Socialism with Chinese characteristics" and "socialist market economy" in the People's Republic of Ch ...

, the airport was modernized and most equipment and facilities were modernized, allowing larger aircraft to operate. By 1997, many medium and smaller-body aircraft had served at the airport, such as the

Boeing 757 The Boeing 757 is an American narrow-body airliner designed and built by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The then-named 7N7, a twinjet successor for the 727 (a trijet), received its first orders in August 1978. The prototype completed its mai ...

, McDonnell-Douglas MD-82, Hawker-Siddeley Trident,

Vickers Viscount The Vickers Viscount is a British medium-range turboprop airliner first flown in 1948 by Vickers-Armstrongs. A design requirement from the Brabazon Committee, it entered service in 1953 and was the first turboprop-powered airliner. The Visc ...

Antonov An-24 The Antonov An-24 (Russian/Ukrainian: Антонов Ан-24) (NATO reporting name: Coke) is a 44-seat twin turboprop transport/passenger aircraft designed in 1957 in the Soviet Union by the Antonov Design Bureau and manufactured by Kyiv, Irku ...

Antonov An-2 The Antonov An-2 ("kukuruznik"—corn crop duster; USAF/DoD reporting name Type 22, NATO reporting name Colt) is a Soviet mass-produced single-engine biplane utility/agricultural aircraft designed and manufactured by the Antonov Design Bure ...

, Xi'an Y-7.

Accidents and Incidents

Landings and takeoffs at Yixu Airport are highly challenging and dangerous, increasing risks of fatal accidents. Any fatal accidents are highlighted in bold. * On 16 June 1987, A Boeing 737 Advanced (B-2514) collided with a

Shenyang J-6 The Shenyang J-6 (Chinese: 歼-6; designated F-6 for export versions; NATO reporting name: Farmer) is the Chinese-built version of the Soviet MiG-19 'Farmer' fighter aircraft, the world's first mass-produced supersonic aircraft. Design and d ...

whilst arriving from

Kai Tak Airport Kai Tak Airport was the international airport of Hong Kong from 1925 until 1998. Officially known as Hong Kong International Airport from 1954 to 6 July 1998, it is often referred to as Hong Kong International Airport, Kai Tak, or simply Ka ...

, causing the J-6 to crash, killing the pilot while the 737 landed safely. *

China Eastern Airlines Flight 5398 China Eastern Airlines Flight 5398 (MU5398) was a McDonnell Douglas MD-82 airliner from Shenzhen's Bao'an International Airport to Fuzhou Yixu Airport in Fujian. On 26 October 1993, it crashed on approach to Fuzhou Yixu Airport. The aircraft ov ...

: On 26 October 1993, a

McDonnell Douglas MD-82 The McDonnell Douglas MD-80 is a series of five-abreast single-aisle airliners developed by McDonnell Douglas. It was produced by the developer company until August 1997 and then by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The MD-80 was the second gener ...

arriving from

Shenzhen Shenzhen (; ; ; ), also historically known as Sham Chun, is a major sub-provincial city and one of the special economic zones of China. The city is located on the east bank of the Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern province ...

, overran the runway at the airport and struck a ground and pond, killing 2 of 80 occupants. *On 12 November 1993, a

China Northern Airlines China Northern Airlines () was an airline headquartered on the grounds of Shenyang Taoxian International Airport, Shenyang, Liaoning, People's Republic of China. Established on June 16, 1990, it was one of the six backbone airlines directly un ...

McDonnell Douglas MD-82 (B-2138) enroute from

Changchun Dafangshen Airport Changchun Dafangshen Airport (), or Dafangshen Air Base, is a military air base in Changchun, the capital of Jilin Province in Northeast China. Originally constructed in 1941 by the Empire of Japan for the capital of its puppet state Manchukuo, ...

to Fuzhou, with 82 occupants, was hijacked by two men mid flight. Both men were armed with

scalpels A scalpel, lancet, or bistoury is a small and extremely sharp bladed instrument used for surgery, anatomical dissection, podiatry and various arts and crafts (either called a hobby knife or an X-acto knife.). Scalpels may be single-use disposab ...

and blood pressure gauge, which they claimed it was a bomb. The plane diverted to

Taipei Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the n ...

and the hijackers surrendered and requested political asylum. This plane would later crash as China Northern Airlines flight 6136, killing all 112 on board.

Airlines and Destinations

In the 1970s through its dissolution in 1988, the airport was mostly served by

CAAC The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC; ) is the Chinese civil aviation authority under the Ministry of Transport. It oversees civil aviation and investigates aviation accidents and incidents. As the aviation authority responsible fo ...

. The amount of passengers increased dramatically during the reform and opening up era. In addition, the airport was too close to the city center and the surrounding mountains and was constrained to expand and modernize. By the 1990s, it was primarily served by Xiamen Air.

References

{{Reflist

External links

* https://aviation-safety.net/database/airport/airport.php?id=ZSFZ * https://wantubizhi.com/pic/%E7%A6%8F%E5%B7%9E%E4%B9%89%E5%BA%8F%E6%9C%BA%E5%9C%BA/ Airports in Fujian Airports established in 1944 1944 establishments in China Buildings and structures in Fuzhou Transport in Fuzhou Defunct airports in China