Four Mega Airports: New Leap for Guangdong as an Aviation Superhub

The sky over Guangdong has never been so busy. Every second, planes pierce the clouds. With over 1,000 flight routes, Guangdong accommodates an annual passenger throughput of 180 million passengers. It connects to Southeast Asia within 4 hours and reaches the rest of the world within 12 hours. These are not mere numbers. They represent a year-round, non-stop "Spring Festival travel rush" in the sky, marking the new leap of Guangdong as an aviation superhub.

On December 24, 2025, the annual passenger throughput of Jieyang Chaoshan International Airport exceeded the milestone of 10 million. Guangdong's family of airports with an annual passenger throughput of over 10 million expanded from Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Zhuhai to Eastern Guangdong. 

Meanwhile, the two major hubs in Guangdong, Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport and Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport, were undergoing a revolutionary expansion in their runway capacity.

On October 30, 2025, Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport's T3 terminal and its fifth runway were officially put into operation. This expansion project, with a total investment of 53.77 billion yuan, has made Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport the first in China's civil aviation to have five commercial runways, earning it the title "Runway King".

Just one month later, on November 29, the third runway at Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport opened for service. This 3,600-meter, 4F-class runway can accommodate the takeoff and landing of all current large passenger and cargo aircraft, ushering the airport into the "three-runway era".

The expansions of airports in Guangzhou and Shenzhen were no isolated events. In the second half of 2025, the aviation hubs of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area saw a major infrastructure upgrade. A three-runway system at Hong Kong International Airport went into full operation, with airports in Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Macao, Foshan, Zhuhai, and Huizhou adding to this web of regional hubs. Guangdong has truly become a globally connected aviation superhub.

The sky over Guangdong has never been busier, nor vaster. Molds from Dongguan, batteries from Huizhou, and home appliances from Foshan only take 45 minutes from the factory floor to the aircraft's hold. It seems that Guangdong has moved the warehouse of the "world's factory" right beside the runway, allowing "Made in Guangdong" products to be available for next-day delivery worldwide.

From the ten-million passenger milestone in Chaoshan, to the runway revolution in the Guangzhou-Shenzhen core hubs, and then to the accelerated formation of a world-class airport cluster in the Greater Bay Area, Guangdong is extending its physical reach and global connectivity by building aerial super corridors, to carry forward the boundless ambition of this land toward the future.