On Aug. 31, the Conference on Enhancing and Strengthening Gateway Hub Development in the Chengdu Eastern New Area was held in Chengdu, where the "Three-Year Action Plan for Enhancing Gateway Hub Functions and Building a National Gateway for Opening-up to the West and South in the Chengdu Eastern New Area (2026-2028)" was officially released. The conference revealed that the Chengdu Eastern New Area will make every effort to advance the planning and construction of the Phase II project of Tianfu International Airport, striving to commence construction in 2028.

A view of the conference venue

The "Action Plan" sets clear development goals: By 2028, Tianfu International Airport aims to operate more than 85 international and regional routes, with passenger throughput exceeding 58 million and cargo and mail throughput surpassing 480,000 metric tons. The International Airport Economic Zone is expected to double both its total foreign trade import and export volume and the output value of industrial enterprises above designated size, as it strives to build a comprehensive, multi-functional international aviation hub.

To achieve these goals, the "Action Plan" outlines 22 specific measures.

In terms of hub construction, Tianfu International Airport will add new international transit channels and expand the scope of services for "one-stop check-in and direct baggage transfer." Construction will be accelerated on projects including the Second Expressway to Tianfu Airport, the Airport Southern Line Expressway, the Outer Ring Railway, and the Metropolitan S13 Line, creating a denser ground collection and distribution network for integrated air-rail-road multimodal transport.

Chengdu Tianfu International Airport

A robust route network is essential support for enhancing hub functions. Currently, Tianfu International Airport operates 405 domestic routes and 77 international and regional routes, connecting five continents. To optimize the route network structure, the "Action Plan" proposes strengthening the distinctive "Tianfu Transfer" brand and accelerating the establishment of major two-way international transit corridors linking "South Asia-Chengdu-Oceania" and "Europe-Chengdu-Southeast Asia/Northeast Asia."

Leveraging enhanced hub capabilities, the Chengdu Eastern New Area will strengthen the Tianfu Comprehensive Bonded Zone platform, enrich port service offerings, advance customs clearance facilitation reforms, and focus on developing air economy-specific industries such as aviation logistics, aviation maintenance and manufacturing, and cross-border commerce.

Capitalizing on its port platform advantages, the new area will accelerate the development of a complete air economy industrial cluster. The International Airport Economic Zone has already attracted leading enterprises such as SF Express and Sinotrans, and has established supporting high-end cold chain warehousing facilities. Moving forward, support will be provided to Sichuan Airlines to strengthen its position as a primary base cargo carrier, and key projects such as Sichuan Maintenance will be advanced. Relying on the Tianfu Comprehensive Bonded Zone, new business models will be developed, including bonded logistics, processing, maintenance, training, testing, and financial leasing.

Chengdu Tianfu International Airport Comprehensive Bonded Zone

The "Action Plan" also makes key arrangements for the air economy, including the layout of pilot-scale bases and industrial parks for Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), and active development in sectors such as drone import and export, low-altitude tourism, and low-altitude logistics. Meanwhile, distinctive aviation-tourism products such as "Tour the Eastern New Area with One Ticket" will be iteratively developed, departure tax refund procedures will be optimized, and deep integration between aviation and cultural tourism will be promoted. Application scenarios involving airport culture, trade distribution, and aviation science education will be explored to foster integrated development of the airport, industry, and city.

On the day of the event, the Ground Service Company of Sichuan Provincial Airport Group established mutual domestic off-site cargo terminals with Shenzhen Airport and Xiamen Airport, further strengthening cooperation between Tianfu International Airport and coastal hub airports in the field of cargo transit.

【本文部分内容由AI辅助生成，特此声明。The author(s) generated part of the content in this work with the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI), which is hereby declared.】