Changchun Longjia International Airport (IATA: CGQ, ICAO: ZYCC) is an international airport serving Changchun, the capital of Northeast China’s Jilin province, for which it is an aviation hub in China's Civil Airport System. The airport is 31.2 km (19.4 mi) northeast of provincial capital Changchun and 76 km (47 mi) northwest of Jilin City: responsibility for the operation of the airport is shared by both cities. Changchun Airport is a regional hub for China Southern Airlines.
Longjia International Airport was approved for construction in 1998. Construction started on 29 May 2003, and the airport began its operations on 27 August 2005. It is named after Longjia (龙嘉), the town where it is located. It replaced the dual-use civil and military Changchun Dafangshen Airport, which reverted to sole military use. Commercial flights of Jilin Ertaizi Airport were also transferred to Longjia on 3 October 2005. According to original designs in 1998, the airport is estimated to serve only 2 million passengers, but the Municipal Government rejected this design, believing it would soon be insufficient for the city's needs, which later turned out to be a wise decision. However, due to this delay, the redesign of the airport did not start until July 2001.
The airport underwent expansion in 2009, which included the addition of two more gates with air bridges to the international section of the terminal and the enlargement of the apron. The construction was completed in May 2011. With these enhancements, the airport became capable of accommodating long-distance wide-body jets such as the Boeing 747. The terminal, expanded to its present size in 2009, now spans 73,300 m2 (789,000 sq ft) of space. It was projected that by 2015, the airport would be equipped to handle 6.5 million passengers annually. However, in 2013, Changchun Airport surpassed this estimate with a passenger flow of 6.7 million, making it the 30th busiest airport in Mainland China in terms of passenger services.
The airport serves most major cities in China and East Asia, offering scheduled international flights to destinations including Bangkok, Seoul, Singapore, Tokyo, Osaka, Hong Kong, and Taipei. In 2021, it gained direct access to Europe when Air China commenced flights to Frankfurt.Changchun Airport serves as one of the major international gateways in North-eastern China.
Changchun Longjia is serviced by the Longjia railway station, a railway station of the Changchun–Jilin intercity railway located at the basement of the terminal. The airport is also serviced by coaches, which ferry passengers to and from Quan'an Square (also known as Nanguan Urban Terminal), Renmin Square, and Weixing Square in Changchun, and Jiangcheng Square in Jilin. Coach services to Changchun are available every day, from the first takeoff to the last arrival.
