Xi'an Xianyang International Airport is the main airport serving

Xi'an, Shaanxi Xi'an ( , ; ; Chinese: ), frequently spelled as Xian and also known by other names, is the capital of Shaanxi Province. A sub-provincial city on the Guanzhong Plain, the city is the third most populous city in Western China, after Chongqing ...

Province, as well as the whole

Guanzhong Guanzhong (, formerly romanised as Kwanchung) region, also known as the Guanzhong Basin, Wei River Basin, or uncommonly as the Shaanzhong region, is a historical region of China corresponding to the crescentic graben basin within present-day ce ...

area. Covering an area of , it is the largest airport in Northwest China, and the second largest airport in

Northern China Northern China () and Southern China () are two approximate regions within China. The exact boundary between these two regions is not precisely defined and only serve to depict where there appears to be regional differences between the climate ...

. The airport was the hub for China Northwest Airlines until the company was merged into China Eastern Airlines in 2002. Xi'an Airport is also the hub for Joy Air and Hainan Airlines. Xi'an Xianyang International Airport is a Skytrax 4-star airport. In 2018, the airport handled 44,650,000 passengers, making it the busiest airport in northwest China. It is the ninth busiest airport nationwide. Xi'an Xianyang International Airport was also the nation's 9th busiest airport in terms of cargo traffic and the 7th busiest airport by traffic movements.

Location

The airport is located within the administrative area of Xianyang city, which gives the airport its name. It is northwest of Xi'an city centre, and northeast of the centre of Xianyang.

History

Before Xianyang Airport was built, Xi'an was served by Xi'an Xiguan Airport. In 1984, the

State Council of China The State Council, constitutionally synonymous with the Central People's Government since 1954 (particularly in relation to local governments), is the chief administrative authority of the People's Republic of China. It is chaired by the p ...

and the Central Military Commission proposed to build a large civil airport on the site of Xianyang's airfield. Phase 1 of the airport commenced construction in August 1987, and was finished and opened on 1 September 1991. Xi'an Xiguan Airport was closed at the same time. Phase 2 started in August 2000, and was finished on 16 September 2003. Another 7.592-billion-yuan project is scheduled to be completed by 2020. Finnair's service to Helsinki was the first intercontinental route out of Xi'an, launching on 14 June 2013. It is now a seasonal route.

Terminal 3 and second runway

Terminal 3 and the second runway were opened on 3 May 2012, increasing the airport's capacity to more than 33 million passengers a year. The new terminal alone can handle 22 million passengers a year, twice as many as the other two terminals combined. Airlines that moved into the new terminal are China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines, and Shanghai Airlines. The second runway is 3,800 meters long and is large enough to handle the Airbus A380.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

Interior view of Xi'an International Airport - panoramio

Statistics

Ground transportation

Eight airport bus routes connect the airport well with the Xi'an and Xianyang city. There are also long-distance buses which connect the airport with Baoji,

Yangling Yangling District () is a district of the city of Xianyang, Shaanxi province, People's Republic of China, located on the plains of Wei River. It has an area of and a population of 155,000. The district is roughly to the west of the provincial c ...

, Lintong, Hancheng, Hanzhong, Weinan, Tongchuan, Yan'an,

Qingyang Qingyang () is a prefecture-level city in eastern Gansu province, China. Geography and climate Qingyang is the easternmost prefecture-level division of Gansu and is thus sometimes referred to as "Longdong" (). It forms an administrative penins ...

, and Pingliang. Xi'an Metro Line 14 between

Beikezhan (Beiguangchang) station Xi'an Beizhan station () is a metro station served by Line 2, Line 4 and Line 14 of Xi'an Metro The Xi'an Metro, also known as the Xi'an Rail Transit, is a rapid transit system in the city of Xi'an and the neighbouring city of Xianyang, in ...

and the airport was opened on September 29, 2019. The line extended to Heshao on June 29, 2021.

Accidents and incidents

* On 6 June 1994, China Northwest Airlines Flight 2303 broke up in mid-air and crashed near Xi'an, en route to Guangzhou from Xi'an. A maintenance error was responsible. All 160 people on board died.

References

External links

Official website
* * {{authority control Airports in Shaanxi Buildings and structures in Xi'an Transport in Xi'an Airports established in 1991 1991 establishments in China Xianyang