By Alistair Baker-Brian
Construction will begin on a third Shanghai airport in November of this year, according to an official announcement quoted by Tencent News.
The new airport – in addition to Pudong and Hongqiao – will run both domestic and international flights. It is expected to open sometime around 2026-2027.
Shanghai-Nantong International Airport will be built in, you guessed it… Nantong – a city around 100 kilometers north of Shanghai city center.
The exact location of the airport will be in Erjia Zhen, Tongzhou District, Nantong, approximately 30 kilometers from the northwest tip of Shanghai’s Chongming Island.
Erjia Zhen is where Shanghai-Nantong International Airport is to be constructed. Screengrab via That’s/Alistair Baker-Brian
Traveling from Shanghai to Nantong via train currently takes anywhere from 1 hour 15 minutes to 2 hours.
Authorities stated their intention to build more transport links between Shanghai-Nantong International Airport and other key Shanghai transport hubs.
In addition to existing rail lines between Shanghai and Nantong, a new high-speed rail between Shanghai, Nanjing and Hefei will include stops at Chongming Island, as well as Qidong – an area of Nantong City approximately 60 kilometers east of where the new airport will be constructed.
As the hashtag ‘Shanghai’s Third Airport to Be Constructed in Jiangsu’ started to trend on Weibo, some netizens expressed their disappointment that it would not be in Suzhou; rumors were abound recently that the city had its first commercial airport since 2002, though it turned out to be just that: rumors.
