Jiaxing Nanhu Airport Opens as New Shanghai Periphery Hub
Jiaxing Nanhu Airport, one of Zhejiang Province’s ten landmark infrastructure projects, is set to officially begin operations on December 26, adding another aviation gateway to the fast-growing Shanghai periphery. The new airport will become the closest newly built civil airport to Shanghai outside of Pudong and Hongqiao, and the second-closest airport serving neighboring Suzhou.
Passenger operations will launch with domestic routes linking Jiaxing to major cities including Chengdu, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, and Changchun. In a second phase of rollout, additional services to Kunming, Harbin, Chongqing, Xi’an, and Haikou are scheduled to start ahead of the 2026 Spring Festival, gradually expanding the airport’s domestic network and improving regional air connectivity.
Built on a site covering 7,781 mu, equivalent to approximately 5.2 square kilometers, Jiaxing Nanhu Airport has been constructed to ICAO 4E standards. Its 3,400-meter runway is capable of accommodating wide-body aircraft, positioning the airport to handle both high-capacity passenger jets and dedicated cargo operations. The airport master plan includes 56 aircraft stands, of which 30 are designed for wide-body aircraft.
The 25,900-square-meter passenger terminal combines functional efficiency with local cultural identity. Inspired by the azalea, the official flower of Jiaxing, the terminal’s design reflects a modern hub layout with streamlined passenger flows and scalable infrastructure, underscoring its role as a professionally planned regional airport.
Strategically, Jiaxing Nanhu Airport is intended to complement rather than compete directly with Shanghai Pudong and Hongqiao airports. Its development follows a differentiated positioning within the Yangtze River Delta’s multi-airport system, focusing on roles that are not fully served by Shanghai’s existing hubs.
A key feature of this strategy is the airport’s designation as cargo-led, with passenger services playing a supporting role. Jiaxing Nanhu Airport is the first airport in the Yangtze River Delta planned primarily as a specialized air cargo hub. Long-term projections target annual cargo and mail throughput of 1.23 million tonnes by 2035, reflecting the region’s strong manufacturing base and growing demand for air logistics.
Connectivity is expected to further enhance the airport’s appeal. With the planned Airport Avenue linking the site to the Shanghai–Suzhou–Huzhou high-speed railway, travel times from parts of Suzhou to Jiaxing Nanhu Airport are forecast to be shorter than trips to Shanghai Hongqiao. This improved access is set to fill an important aviation service gap across the Shanghai–Jiangsu–Zhejiang border region.
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Sources: AirGuide Business airguide.info, bing.com