Departure
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MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport (ZUUU/CTU) is a major international gateway in Sichuan province, southwestern China, lying roughly 16 kilometres southwest of downtown Chengdu. Once the primary international hub for the city, it now handles domestic and international cargo flights following the opening of Chengdu Tianfu International Airport, and remains a significant base for Air China, Sichuan Airlines and Chengdu Airlines.
Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport serves the Sichuan capital of Chengdu and is operated by the Sichuan Provincial Airport Group. It traces its origins back to 1938 and has grown into one of the busiest and oldest airports in China, historically serving as a core hub for Air China alongside Beijing Capital, and as the principal base for Sichuan Airlines and Chengdu Airlines. For the simulator pilot, the field offers a substantial slice of Chinese aviation history combined with a large, modern dual-runway layout typical of a major regional hub, making it an interesting destination for both airliner and general aviation operations within the sim.
The airport sits in the central section of the Chengdu plain, to the north of the town of Shuangliu, about 16 kilometres southwest of downtown Chengdu. It is one of two international airports serving the city, the other being Chengdu Tianfu International Airport some 51 kilometres to the southeast at Lujia Town, Jianyang. As a large international airport handling scheduled domestic and cargo traffic, Shuangliu sits within controlled airspace typical of a major Chinese hub, with Chengdu Approach providing radar service on approach and departure.
Shuangliu has two parallel physical runways aligned 02/20. Runway 02R/20L is 11,815 to 11,816 feet long with a hard surface, lit, and equipped with an ILS. Runway 02/20 is 11,796 feet long, hard surface and lit, but without a published ILS. Both runways are of a length suited to the largest wide-body jets.
Chengdu Tower operates on 123 MHz, with Chengdu Ground on 121.85 MHz. Approach control is split between Chengdu Approach Area 1 on 125.6 MHz and Chengdu Approach Area 2 on 119.7 MHz. ATIS is broadcast on 128.6 MHz. An ILS is available on runway 02R/20L for instrument approaches.
The airport's predecessor, Shuangguisi Airport, opened in 1938 as a military airfield during the Second Sino-Japanese War, initially with a runway only large enough for small biplanes. It served as a base for Republic of China Air Force Polikarpov I-15 fighters of the 5th Pursuit Group defending Chengdu against Japanese bomber raids, and several Chinese fighter pilots were killed defending the airfield against Mitsubishi Zero fighters on 14 March 1941. After the United States entered the Second World War, the airfield, then known as Shwangliu Airfield, was used by the US Fourteenth Air Force, including the 33d Fighter Group flying P-47 Thunderbolts in 1944, and by reconnaissance units flying P-38 Lightnings, until American forces withdrew at the end of August 1945. On 12 December 1956 the airfield was transferred to civil aviation control and renamed Chengdu Shuangliu Airport, with civil flights shifting there from Guanghan Airport in 1957. A major expansion between 1994 and 2001 extended the main runway to 3,600 metres, rated Class 4E and capable of handling aircraft up to the Boeing 747-400. The airport was renamed Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport on 30 November 1995 after being approved as an international port-of-entry in 1993. A second runway was built beginning in late 2008. KLM launched the first intercontinental route from Chengdu, to Amsterdam, on 28 May 2006.
Following the opening of Chengdu Tianfu International Airport in June 2021, most international passenger and cargo routes transferred away from Shuangliu, which now specialises in scheduled domestic flights along with international cargo services to East Asia, Southeast Asia, Europe, West Asia, North America and South Asia. It remains a hub for Air China, Sichuan Airlines and Chengdu Airlines, with China Eastern, China Southern, Shenzhen Airlines, Lucky Air and Tibet Airlines also basing operations there.