After Beijing, Shanghai and Chengdu, Guangzhou Becomes the Fourth “Dual‑Airport” City

Groundbreaking and the plan

Guangzhou (广州) officially broke ground on its new airport in Foshan’s Gaoming District on March 25, marking what has been described as the city’s move to a de facto “dual‑airport” system after Beijing, Shanghai and Chengdu. The Guangzhou New Airport (广州新机场) carries an investment of 41.8 billion yuan (roughly US$6 billion), is planned with three runways and two terminals, and is designed to 4E flight‑zone standards. It has been reported that the project’s initial phase targets 30 million annual passengers and 500,000 tonnes of cargo, rising to 60 million passengers and 2.2 million tonnes of cargo by 2050.

Regulatory approvals and siting choices

The project received approval from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (国家民航局, CAAC) in May 2024 and from the National Development and Reform Commission (国家发改委, NDRC) in December 2025. During siting it was reportedly pitched to serve as a true second airport for Guangzhou — with earlier contenders including Zengcheng and Nansha — and will function as part of Guangzhou’s international aviation hub ambitions and the broader Pearl River Delta / Guangdong‑Hong Kong‑Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) transport network.

Strategic logic: rebalancing the Bay Area

Why build a western hub? The three existing top‑tier airports in the GBA — Guangzhou Baiyun, Shenzhen Bao’an and Hong Kong International — are clustered in the mid‑eastern basin of the region. The new airport aims to fill a geographic gap on the Pearl River’s western shore, lift the profile of the west‑bank city cluster and strengthen the GBA’s world‑class airport group. In short: regional coordination, not just municipal prestige, is the driving logic.

The “double‑airport” race and national strategy

“Double‑airport” normally implies two airports at 4E level or above. Nanjing and Chongqing have both been mentioned as rivals in the race to claim a similar status: it has been reported that Nanjing’s Ma’anshan‑area airport and planned phases aim at the same benchmark, and Chongqing remains a contender — but analysts say Guangzhou may still lead on timing. The development also ties into Beijing’s national aviation blueprint: a “3+7+N” international hub system published by CAAC and NDRC, in which Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou are positioned as the country’s primary gateway hubs, each with regional roles and international ambitions.