On May 17, the terminal of Chengdu Tianfu International Airport has officially begun construction. Terminal is most crucial landmark project in the airport construction. The construction of the terminal in Chengdu Tianfu International Airport marks the fact that the biggest hub airport project during the 13th Five-Year Plan period has come to the stage of all-round implementation.
The four terminal units stand as phoenixes flying with the sun on the back, symbolizing the confident and proud image of Chengdu Tianfu International Airport. Wu Ding, Chief Engineer of the headquarter of Chengdu Tianfu International Airport, introduced that, this is the first time China has adopted the unit type of terminal with one connecting with the other, which makes it convenient to set more boarding gates close to the terminals, enabling the passengers to board as soon as possible. The first-phase terminal covers an area of 600,000 square meters, equivalent to two T2 terminals of Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport.
The buildings under construction include the T1 terminal with 330,000 square meters (both international and domestic flights), T2 terminal with 270,000 square meters (domestic flights only), and Ground Traffic Center (GTC) with 80,000 square meters, meeting the demands of 28 million domestic visits and 12 million international visits in 2025. The GTC is located between the T1 and T2, covering various kinds of transportation modes such as high-speed railway, urban rail transit, subway, taxi, private car, and long-distance bus. Passengers do not need to transfer within the terminal by taking the smart car to the parking lot.
Wu Ding said, “The terminal construction will highlight people-orientation, smartness, and green concept.” Eight Sights in Tianfu will be forged to present the profound Sichuan culture; the Internet, Internet of things, and big data technology such as smart car, self-service luggage transportation, and instant flight message enable the terminal to be more automatic and smarter; the concept of sponge city and garden airport will be brought in and environmentally-friendly materials, clean energies, and rain will be utilized and recycled.
Chengdu Tianfu International Airport began construction in May, 2016. Over the past year, the construction has been successfully promoted. After the terminal construction starts, the pre-work of the supporting projects including base construction, air traffic control, oil supply, and the construction of air mail processing center will be speeded up. These projects will be started in the second half of 2017. An investment of 15 billion yuan will be completed within this year. By 2020, Chengdu Tianfu International Airport will be put into service.
The Chengdu Tianfu International Airport part of Chengdu-Kunming high-speed railway has also begun construction on May 17. Chengdu-Kunming high-speed railway, projected to support 350 km/h, will go down through the airport and set transferring station under the terminal. Furthermore, Metro No.18 and No.19, Chengdu Tianfu International Airport Express, and green channels outside the airport are under fast construction.
