Airport type Public Elevation AMSL 34 m / 112 ft 04L/22R 3,400 Elevation 115 m | Location Huangpi District Website www.whairport.com Code WUH Phone +86 27 96577 | |
 | ||
Focus city for Air China; China Eastern Airlines; China Southern Airlines | ||
Wuhan tianhe international airport
Wuhan Tianhe International Airport (IATA: WUH, ICAO: ZHHH) serves Wuhan, the capital of the Hubei province, People's Republic of China.It was opened on 15 April 1995 substituting the old Hankou Wangjiadun Airport and Nanhu Airport as the major airport of Wuhan. The airport is located in Wuhan's suburban Huangpi District, around 26 kilometres to the north of Wuhan city center. It is the busiest airport of central China as it is geographically located in the centre of China's airline route network. The airport is a focus city for Air China, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines. The airport has flights to international destinations such as Bangkok, Moscow, Osaka, Paris, Seoul, and Singapore. In September 2014 China Southern Airlines announced a daily non-stop flight to San Francisco, originating from Guangzhou, operating with a Boeing 787 to begin December 16, 2014. This is Wuhan's first non-stop flight to the United States.
Contents
- Wuhan tianhe international airport
- Wuhan tianhe international airport domestic terminal
- Terminals
- Ground transportation
- Future development
- References
The airport served 18,942,038 passengers in 2015, making it the 13th busiest airport by passenger traffic in China.
The name Tianhe (天河) can be literally translated as "Sky River"; it is also one of the old names for the Milky Way.
Starting from May 1, 2015, passengers from countries such as EU countries, Japan, Korea, Russia, the U.S., when traveling to a third country, can enter China from this airport without a Chinese visa for up to 72 hours.
Wuhan tianhe international airport domestic terminal
Terminals
Terminal 2 is currently the main terminal for Tianhe Airport, which handles only domestic airlines. It has a floor area of 121,200 square meters and a designed capacity to handle 13 million passengers and 320,000 tons of cargo a year. The project was completed in April 15, 2008, at a total cost of 3.37 billion yuan (421.5 million US dollars). By 2010, Wuhan served at least 5 international and 100 domestic routes. The airport's cargo-handling capacity is to reach 144,000 tons.
The old terminal 1 was closed in 2010 after serving international flights for two years. A new international terminal was built in 2010, and has undergone subsequent expansions after seeing major increase of international travelers.
The construction of Terminal 3 started in June 2013 and was completed in December 2016. A new runway, new control tower, and a transportation hub connecting the airport to the city with intercity railway and metro line have been built and opened along with the new terminal.
Ground transportation
Two tolled expressways, the 1st (numbered S18) and the 2nd (S19) Airport Expressways, connect the airport to downtown Hankou.
There is a limited bus service between Wuhan Tianhe Airport and several bus stops in the urban area of Wuhan.
The Wuhan–Xiaogan Intercity Railway, one of the lines of the Wuhan Metropolitan Area Intercity Railway, serves Wuhan Tianhe Airport. This railway opened in December 2016.
The extension of Line 2 of Wuhan Metro to Tianhe Airport is opened on 28 December 2016.
Future development
Presently, Tianhe is the only civic airport in the Wuhan metropolitan area. However, the city authorities are considering repurposing the military Shanpo Airfield (山坡机场; 30°05′17″N 114°18′52″E), located in the city's far southern suburbs (Shanpo Township, Jiangxia District), as a commercial cargo airport. If the plans are implemented, Shanpo will become Wuhan's second airport.