Guiyang airport’s new runway starts operating

An aircraft takes off from the new east runway at Guiyang Longdongbao International Airport. [Photo/WeChat of Guizhou]

Flight SC2323 -- flying from Guiyang in Southwest China's Guizhou province to Yantai in East China's Shandong province -- successfully took off from Guiyang Longdongbao International Airport at 7:15 am on Nov 5, a symbolically important event.

It marked the official start of operations of the Guiyang airport's newly-established east runway.

The east runway is an important part of the third expansion project for Guiyang airport.

The 4,000-meter-long runway meets industry 4E standards, which enables it to allow takeoffs and landings of four-engine, long-range and wide-body aircraft such as the Boeing 747 and Airbus A340.

The new runway started construction in May in 2017 and passed acceptance in August this year.

While the new runway operating, the existing west runway at Guiyang airport has been closed for expansion work.

The quiet moment for the newly-established east runway at Guiyang Longdongbao International Airport [Photo/WeChat of Guizhou]

The runway will now be extended from 3,200 meters to 3,500 meters.

It is estimated that the third phase of expansion project at the Guiyang airport will be finished in 2021, which includes construction of the T3 terminal covering 16,700 square meters and a parking apron that accommodates up to 62 aircraft.

By then, Guiyang airport will have two runways operating at the same time, the total area of the terminal buildings will reach 360,000 sq m and the total aircraft apron slots will reach 114.

The airport will have the capacity to handle annual passenger throughput of 30 million passengers and cargo and mail throughput of 250,000 tons.