Published : 2025-08-05
On August 5, 2004, the new Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport, with a total investment of RMB 19.8 billion and a construction period of 3 years and 10 months, was officially put into operation.
At 7 a.m. that day, the CZ3932 flight to Haikou and the CZ328 flight from Los Angeles, became the first departure and arrival flights at the new airport, respectively.
At 6:15 a.m. on the day of the opening of the new airport, then Deputy Director of the Civil Aviation Administration Yang Guoqing (楊國慶) and Executive Deputy Mayor of Guangzhou Lin Yuanhe (林元和) came to the West Pier 1, Gate 205 boarding bridge at the new airport to see off the crew of the inaugural flight and 198 lucky passengers.
Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport was completed in the summer of 1933, initially used mainly for military purposes, and later converted to civilian use.
After the Reform and Opening-up started, due to the airport being located in the city centre, it went through several expansions but still could not meet the demand, so it was decided to find a new site to build a new airport.
The new Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport officially started construction in August 2000 and was officially put into operation at 00:00 on August 5 of the same year, and the old airport, which had been in service for 72 years, was also closed.
The new Baiyun International Airport is the first airport in China designed and built according to the hub airport concept.
The first phase of the project covers an area of about 15 square kilometres, and the terminal area is designed to meet the requirement of 25 million passenger throughput in 2010.
Its terminal building has a current area of 370,000 square metres, consisting of a main building, a connecting building, piers, and elevated corridors, divided into four floors, with all facilities and equipment reaching international advanced levels.
