Jingzhou, a city in Hubei province in central China, has long been knowing as a historically enriched city geographically well positioned as an important part of the Changjiang River Economic zone with many companies’ factories and offices in this region. Jingzhou is positioned in the centre of some major cities such as Wuhan, Chongqing, Xi’an and close to Nanjing and Shanghai. (中文版)
Airport for Jingzhou
The old airport that serves Jingzhou was first built in the 1920’s but it became a flying academy until in 2012 operation stopped. Since then Jingzhou relies on nearby Yichang Sanxia Airport, Changde Taohuayuan Airport, and Wuhang Tianhe Airport. Yichang Sanxia Airport is closest to Jingzhou at a driving distance of 94 km, around 1 hour 20 mins.
With all these surrounding airports reaching full capacity, in 2016 the government has approved for Jingzhou to build a new airport supporting the economic growth of the region. The new Jingzhou Airport includes a brand-new six-petal flower shape terminal building, additional runway and parking spaces, full international customer and immigration service, and various additional infrastructures making it one of the 18 new Civil airports in China.
The CAAC engineering team are starting to conduct the inspection of the construction to ensure the quality meet the standards. The Airport staff are also working with the peer across the country on the route development. There are also works on connecting the major highways to the airport. With the current schedule, the airport is planning to open in the second quarter 2020. For the time being, passengers can use the nearby airport to access Jingzhou:
Yichang Sanxia Airport ZHYC
Changde Taohuayan Airport ZGCD
Wuhan Tianhe Airport ZHHH
Most of the new airports in China are starting to include general aviation development in their initial planning, such as runway, maintenance, VIP Lounge and FBO. Development are no longer limited to first tier cities, but second and third tier airports due to anticipation of increased regional travel which will benefit the small and mid-size jet, this is a move that surely will be welcomed by the industry.