Chengdu increases strengths as transport hub

Shuangliu International Airport exceeds 40m annual passengers

Chengdu, a hub city in Southwest China, is rising to become an international aviation hub.

The passenger throughput of Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport reached 40 million by Dec 10, making it the fourth airport on the Chinese mainland to handle more than 40 million passengers a year, after Beijing Capital International Airport, Shanghai Pudong International Airport, and Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport, according to official data.

The passenger throughput of Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport increased 12 percent year-on-year in the first 11 months, higher than the average rate in the nationwide.

The airport is expected to handle 42 million passengers this year, making it among the world’s top 30 in terms of passenger volume. The number of overseas passengers is expected to exceed 4 million, according to the airport.

Backed by the Belt and Road Initiative and Chengdu’s opening-up, Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport has seen rapid development in recent years.

It has opened a number of international routes since 2013, connecting Chengdu to cities including San Francisco, London, Moscow, and Melbourne. Its airline network has covered the major hub cities in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Oceania and Asia.

By the end of November, the airport had 165 domestic and 84 international routes, enabling passengers to travel to 192 domestic and overseas destinations.

On Dec 12, Air China launched a non-stop route between Chengdu and Paris. It is the fifth non-stop route connecting Chengdu and Europe.

Chengdu plans to open three international non-stop routes in each of the next five years, which will enable the city to have 55 international non-stop routes by 2020, according to an official at the Chengdu Port and Logistics Office.

“We will strengthen the city’s status as a national-level aviation hub and gateway city in China’s central and western region, building it into an ideal transfer station that connects Europe, Africa and the Middle East to Southeast Asia, Oceania, and North America,” the official said.

The city is scheduled to build a new airport southeast of Chengdu and 31 miles from the Shuangliu airport, which will make it the third city on the Chinese mainland to have a second civil airport, after Beijing and Shanghai. The Tianfu International Airport, designed to be larger than the Shuangliu airport, will mainly serve international routes.

According to the plan, the first phase of the new airport will finish by 2018, with annual capacity to handle 40 million passengers and 700,000 metric tons of cargo. The long-term goal is to handle 90 million passengers and 2 million tons of cargo annually.

Express rail service

Located at the intersection of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the Yangtze River Economic Belt, the city also boasts an advanced rail transport system. Railways lines starting from Chengdu not only connect to cities all over China, but also to Central Asia and Europe.

In accordance with China’s national Belt and Road Initiative, the city opened the Chengdu-Europe Express Rail in April 2013. It is currently the fastest and most frequently used direct freight service from China to Europe.

The weekly service departs from the Chengdu Railway Container Logistics Center and heads to Lodz, Poland. The train transports laptops, iPads, auto parts, home appliances, clothing, shoes and toys produced in Chengdu and other Chinese cities.

It takes about 10 days for the cargo to reach Lodz. Then, within three days, the shipments can be delivered to customers in London, Paris, Berlin or Rome via the widespread European rail and road networks.

The express rail started a return service in late August. The two-way cargo train service is expected to hit 300 journeys in 2016, according to city officials.

The city is becoming a key transport hub for Asia and Europe as more and more cities are linked to the express rail system. The railway has expanded to eastern coastal cities including Shenzhen, Xiamen and Ningbo, and will soon connect to Kunming, Nanning and Wuhan. In Europe, the railway is connected to Germany and the Netherlands.

Transportation hub

In line with the Belt and Road Initiative and national plans to develop the Yangtze River Economic Belt, the Chengdu government announced that it would build the city into a national gateway, a leader in opening-up to the world among China’s inland cities, and western China’s economic and innovation center.

“To achieve the goal, the city will improve transportation and communication infrastructure, expand international cooperation, upgrade local industries, and deepen innovation and entrepreneurship,” said an official at the Chengdu Development and Reform Commission.

According to the official, Chengdu will expand and optimize its airline, railway and highway networks, making the city an international logistics hub and a gateway to Asia and Europe.

Chengdu is the fifth-largest railway hub in China. By 2020, the city will build an extensive railway system with a total of 15 rail lines stretching out through the country from Chengdu. By taking an inner city express train, passengers can reach any part of the city in less than 30 minutes.

By 2020, the railway network will make it possible to travel between Chengdu and Chongqing and other nearby cities within an hour; major cities such as Xi’an, Kunming, Guiyang and Wuhan within four hours; and to the Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta and the Bohai Rim area within eight hours.

In the next five years, the length of highways in use is expected to surpass 1,000 km. According to the Transport Committee of Chengdu, the city is improving its highway network to better connect with other regions covered in the Belt and Road Initiative.

Tianfu International Airport and Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport will together make the largest regional aviation hub in western China. The city plans to become a comprehensive transporta-tion hub where transport of various kinds will be integrated, offering greater convenience to passengers.

In addition, Chengdu plans to expand exchanges with countries and regions along the Belt and Road by developing cooperation platforms such as the Chengdu Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone and Tianfu New Area, encouraging companies to go global, and establishing sister relationships with major cities.