| Iata: | LHW |
| Icao: | ZLLL |
| Coordinates: | 36.515°N 103.62°W |
| Pushpin Map: | China Gansu#China |
| Pushpin Label: | LHW/ZLLL |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location in Gansu##Location in China |
| Type: | Public |
| Operator: | Gansu Airport Group |
| City-Served: | Lanzhou |
| Location: | Zhongchuan, Lanzhou New Area, Gansu, China |
| Elevation-M: | 1,947 |
| Metric-Elev: | y |
| Metric-Rwy: | y |
| R1-Number: | 18/36 |
| R1-Length-M: | 3,600 |
| R1-Surface: | Asphalt |
| Stat-Year: | 2021 |
| Stat1-Header: | Passengers |
| Stat1-Data: | 12,171,160 |
| Stat2-Header: | Cargo |
| Stat2-Data: | 73,108.3 tons |
| Stat3-Header: | Aircraft movements |
| Stat3-Data: | 102,288 |
| Footnotes: | Source: List of the busiest airports in the People's Republic of China |
| Image Map Caption: | CAAC airport chart |
| Order: | st |
| P: | Lánzhōu Zhōngchuān Guójì Jīchǎng |
Lanzhou Zhongchuan International Airport is an international airport serving Lanzhou, the capital of Northwest China’s Gansu province. It is located northwest of downtown Lanzhou. It was opened in 1970[1] and serves as a major air hub for the province of Gansu and western China. There are eight gates served by aerobridges in the terminal. A new larger (61,000 m2) Terminal 2 is located to the South, adjacent to the existing terminal.[2] The new terminal adds nine aerobridges.
Lanzhou Airport is a focus city for China Eastern Airlines and Hainan Airlines. Passenger traffic at Lanzhou Airport in 2014 was 6.58 million, with 10 million passengers per year projected for 2020.[3]
Lanzhou's first airport, Gongxingdun Airport, was located just 2km (01miles) from the city centre. By 1957, the Civil Aviation Administration of China decided that Gongxingun Airport's location was too restrictive for the aviation needs of Lanzhou and designated a new site near Zhongchuan town. Due to the geography of Lanzhou, this closest suitable location is 71km (44miles) from downtown Lanzhou, which makes it the Chinese airport furthest from the center of the city it serves.[4]
In 1968 construction was started on Lanzhou airport and on July 26, 1970, the maiden flight took place with the first aircraft landing of an Ilyushin Il-14. On June 15, 1997, an expansion project was officially started.[5]
In 2010, Lanzhou airport's passenger throughput exceeded 3 million people a year.[6] and the second expansion project started. Lanzhou Airport Terminal 2 officially started construction in 2010, after preliminary design approval and with an investment budget of 1.488 billion yuan.[7] In 2013, Lanzhou airport's passenger throughput exceeded 5 million passengers per annum, increasing the official Lanzhou airport ranking among the major airports within China.[8] Terminal 2 opened in 2015[7] and later that year the Lanzhou–Zhongchuan Airport intercity railway between the airport and Lanzhou's urban area opened.
The third expansion phase started in 2019. At a cost of 31.69 billion Yuan, a new Terminal 3 will be built, two new 4000 meter long runways and facilities will be expanded. Terminal 3 will be four times larger than the current combined terminal floor area.[9] [10] The entirety of adjacent namesake Zhongchuan town and several villages, totaling 10.7sqkm, were demolished to make way for the expansion, and residents were relocated to Lanzhou and Lanzhou New Area.[11] [12] [13]
While nominally two terminals, they are connected airside by a lengthy walkway and operate as a single building. Airlines operating from one terminal may use gates at the other.
Shaped like the letter T, this terminal consisted of eight airbridges. The original terminal had a single airside level for arrivals and departures. Arrivals were segregated by a glass screen from departing passengers. Check-in was handled on the upper level, while the lower level housed the baggage hall.
With the opening of Terminal 2, this terminal's landside facilities have been shut down for refurbishment and parts of the terminal will be mothballed until future growth warrants the reopening of these facilities. Airside lounges, gates and shops remain in use.
Designed and shaped to resemble the wing of flying geese, at 61,000m2, this terminal greatly increased the operational space at Lanzhou Airport. It added an extra two piers to the existing terminal. It houses 30 extra check-in desks, 12 passenger gates, 9 airbridges and separate levels for arriving and departing passengers. The new terminal was opened for travellers in February 2015.[3]
Terminal 3 construction preparations started in 2019. It will have a floor area of 400000sqm, dwarfing T1 and T2.[10] The terminal will have 87 gates.[9]
The Lanzhou–Zhongchuan Airport intercity railway between the airport and the city started operation on 30 September 2015.[14] It provides fast train services between the Zhongchuan Airport railway station and Lanzhou West railway station then continuing to Lanzhou railway station.