Ningbo Lishe International Airport is the principal airport serving
Ningbo
Ningbo (; Ningbonese: ''gnin² poq⁷'' , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), formerly romanized as Ningpo, is a major sub-provincial city in northeast Zhejiang province, People's Republic of China. It comprises 6 urban districts, 2 sate ...
, a major city in the
Yangtze River Delta
The Yangtze Delta or Yangtze River Delta (YRD, or simply ) is a triangle-shaped megalopolis generally comprising the Wu Chinese-speaking areas of Shanghai, southern Jiangsu and northern Zhejiang. The area lies in the heart of the Jiangnan reg ...
region and the second largest city in
Zhejiang Province, China.
In 2013, the airport handled 5.4 million passengers, ranking
36th in China. It was the
29th busiest airport in China in cargo traffic in 2012.
History
Ningbo
Ningbo (; Ningbonese: ''gnin² poq⁷'' , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), formerly romanized as Ningpo, is a major sub-provincial city in northeast Zhejiang province, People's Republic of China. It comprises 6 urban districts, 2 sate ...
's Lishe was an auxiliary air force base of the Republic-era
Chinese Nationalist Air Force
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...
, and was the final launching point of
Martin B-10
The Martin B-10 was the first all-metal monoplane bomber to be regularly used by the United States Army Air Corps, entering service in June 1934.Jackson 2003, p. 246. It was also the first mass-produced bomber whose performance was superior to ...
bombers commanded by Captain
Xu Huansheng and Lieutenant Tong Yanbo of the
14th Bomber Squadron of the 8th Bomber Group in their famous transoceanic raid to
Nagasaki
is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan.
It became the sole port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th through 19th centuries. The Hidden Christian Sites in the ...
and other cities in the
Empire of Japan
The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent fo ...
on 19–20 May 1938.
Lishe airport was opened for civil service on 16 November 1984 when a
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 f ...
Antonov
Antonov State Enterprise ( uk, Державне підприємство «Антонов»), formerly the Aeronautical Scientific-Technical Complex named after Antonov (Antonov ASTC) ( uk, Авіаційний науково-технічни ...
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, Ir ...
aircraft landed at the military Ningbo Zhuangqiao Airport ().
In 1985, the Central Government of China approved the construction of Ningbo Lishe Airport. On 30 June 1990, it opened for service and became the first civil-only airport in Zhejiang. The construction cost was
RMB
The renminbi (; symbol: ¥; ISO code: CNY; abbreviation: RMB) is the official currency of the People's Republic of China and one of the world's most traded currencies, ranking as the fifth most traded currency in the world as of April 2022. ...
126 million.
In July 1992, the airport opened for international service. The first international service was opened to Hong Kong later the same year. In November 1998, service to
Macau
Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...
with onward code-share connection 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
Kaohsiung
Kaohsiung City (Mandarin Chinese: ; Wade–Giles: ''Kao¹-hsiung²;'' Pinyin: ''Gāoxióng'') is a special municipality located in southern Taiwan. It ranges from the coastal urban center to the rural Yushan Range with an area of . Kaohsi ...
started. International cargo flights started by the end of 1998.
In March 1997,
Great Wall Airlines
Great Wall Airlines Company Limited was a cargo airline based in Shanghai, People's Republic of China. It operated cargo services to Europe, the United States and Asia. Its main base was Shanghai Pudong International Airport. The airline was merg ...
established a hub at the facility. The airport has services to 38 domestic destinations in China and international services to Hong Kong,
Seoul
Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...
, and
Macau
Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...
. It is served by 16 airlines.
It was renamed Ningbo Lishe International Airport from Ningbo Lishe Airport on 29 November 2005.
Growth
The airport is one of the fastest growing in China. In 1992, 286,021 passengers and 4,064 tons of cargo passed through the airport. In 2002, the figures grew to 1.28 million passengers and over 20,000 tons of cargo. Annual growth rate is 17.8% and 19.8% for passenger traffic and cargo traffic respectively.
In 2004, the airport handled 1.85 million passengers and 34,800 tons of cargo. It was expected to handle 2.3 million passengers and 52,000 tons of cargo in 2008.
Foreign investment
Its operator signed a strategic partnership agreement on 10 June 2005 with
Fraport
Fraport AG Frankfurt Airport Services Worldwide,[Frankfurt
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...]
Airport under which it will sell a 25% stake to the German airport operator.
Facilities
A new passenger terminal was opened on 8 October 2002 at a construction cost of
RMB
The renminbi (; symbol: ¥; ISO code: CNY; abbreviation: RMB) is the official currency of the People's Republic of China and one of the world's most traded currencies, ranking as the fifth most traded currency in the world as of April 2022. ...
770 million with an annual capacity of 3.8 million passengers. It can handle 1,700 passengers at maximum per hour. The departure lounge occupies 43,500 m
2. The new apron occupies an area of 87,000 m
2. The new terminal has 16 departure gates and 7
jetway
A jet bridge (also termed jetway, jetwalk, airgate, gangway, aerobridge/airbridge, skybridge, finger, airtube, expedited suspended passenger entry system (E-SPES), or its official industry name passenger boarding bridge (PBB)) is an enclosed, ...
s. The new parking facility associated has 360 parking spaces.
Airlines and destinations
Passenger