Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport (in simplified Chinese广州白云国际机场) is located in Huadu District of Guangzhou City in Guangdong Province. It was officially opened in 5th August in 2004.
The previous Guangzhou Baiyun Airport was located in Baiyun District of Guangzhou City. It was built in the summer of 1933, which was originally used for military purposes mainly. Later, the previous Baiyun Airport was converted into a civilian airport. After the reform and opening up of China, Baiyun Airport was developing rapidly and its passenger throughput had been ranking the first in the country for 8 consecutive years. However, as the old Baiyun Airport was located in the urban center, the expansion of the airport was limited and after a number of expansions, the airport was still unable to meet the increasing demand from the passengers. Therefore, the construction of the new Baiyun Airport, which is also the Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport was are talking about now, was put into the agenda of the government.
The choosing of the site of the new Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport started in 1992 and after years of preparation, the new Baiyun International Airport started the construction in August 2000. After 4 years of hard work, the construction completed in August 2, 2004 completed. At the same year, the airport was officially opened and then, the old Baiyun Airport, which served Guangzhou people as well as foreign visitors for 72 years, was closed.
The construction of the Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport involved a total investment of nearly 200 million RMB. Currently, the farthest airport in the world from Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport was located in Chile, which is the San Pedro De Atacama Airport. As Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport is one of the main airports used in Guangdong Province, a lot of airlines would locate the destination of their flights in this airport so that many people coming to visit Guangzhou or even Guangdong Province would have arrived at Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport when they first step on the territory of China.