Nanjing Dajiaochang Airport () was an airport for

Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...

, capital of

Jiangsu Province Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its ca ...

and former capital of the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...

. It is located south of Xinjiekou, the center of Nanjing, and is surrounded on three sides by the

Qinhuai River The Qinhuai River () is a tributary of the Yangtze with a total length of 110 km. It flows through central Nanjing and is called "Nanjing's mother river". It is the "life blood" of the city. The Qinhuai River is divided into inner and outer river ...

. On 28 June 1997

Nanjing Lukou International Airport Nanjing Lukou International Airport is the main airport serving Nanjing (the capital of Jiangsu Province) and a major airport serving the Yangtze River Delta area. As of 2020, it is the 12th busiest civil airport in China, Dropping one plac ...

was opened and all civil flights were transferred to the new airport. Dajiaochang Airport remained in use as a military air base. On 8 August 2012, construction began for Nanjing Luhe Airport. After Luhe Airport was opened in July 2015 and the Nanjing Air Base transferred to the new airport, Dajiaochang Airport was closed on 30 July 2015. It will be redeveloped into a commercial and residential area, and its historic runway will be conserved as a public open space.

Facilities

Since its opening in 1934 Nanjing Dajiaochang Airport has been expanded more than ten times. As of 1999 the airport had a runway that was 2,200 meters long, 60 meters wide, and 46 centimeters thick, capable of handling the

Boeing 737 The Boeing 737 is a narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Renton Factory in Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the twinjet retains the 707 fuselage width and six abreast seating with two un ...

and

757 757 may refer to: * Boeing 757: a narrow-body airliner * AD 757: a year * 757 BC: a year * 757 (number): a number * Area code 757 Image:Area code 757.png, The area colored red indicates the southeast corner of Virginia served by area code 757 po ...

. It occupied an area of .

History

In 1367

Zhu Yuanzhang The Hongwu Emperor (21 October 1328 – 24 June 1398), personal name Zhu Yuanzhang (), courtesy name Guorui (), was the founding emperor of the Ming dynasty of China, reigning from 1368 to 1398. As famine, plagues and peasant revolts in ...

, the founding emperor of the

Ming Dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

, established his capital in Nanjing and built a military training ground in the area that the airport now occupies. The area has since been called Dajiaochang, meaning "big training ground".

Republic of China era

Dajiaochang Airport was one of the largest air bases of the

era. It was first built in April 1931 for the Central Aviation School of China, which was soon moved to

Hangzhou Jianqiao Airport Hangzhou Jianqiao Airport (), formerly romanized as Chien Chiao, also known as Hangzhou Air Base, is a People's Liberation Army Air Force Base and a former civil airport serving Hangzhou, the capital city of Zhejiang Province, China. It is locat ...

. In 1934 Dajiaochang was converted to a military air base with an 800-meter runway. It was further expanded in 1935 and 1936. During the War of Resistance-World War II, Dajiaochang and ''Jurong'' Airbase served as primary air force bases of the

Chinese Air Force The People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF; ), also known as the Chinese Air Force (中国空军) or the People's Air Force (人民空军), is an Air force, aerial service branch of the People's Liberation Army, the regular army, regular ...

in the defense of Nanjing and the support of the

Battle of Shanghai The Battle of Shanghai () was the first of the twenty-two major engagements fought between the National Revolutionary Army (NRA) of the Republic of China (ROC) and the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) of the Empire of Japan at the beginning of th ...

; the Japanese army took over the airport when Nanjing fell in December 1937. After the surrender of Japan in 1945, the Republic of China government expanded the airport, lengthening its runway to 1,200 meters. After a plane carrying American General

George Marshall George Catlett Marshall Jr. (December 31, 1880 – October 16, 1959) was an American army officer and statesman. He rose through the United States Army to become Chief of Staff of the US Army under Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry ...

was damaged at Dajiaochang Airport during landing, in 1947 the airport was expanded again, with a concrete runway that was 2,200 meters long and 45 meters wide.

People's Republic of China era

In April 1949 Dajiaochang Airport was taken over by the

People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the principal military force of the People's Republic of China and the armed wing of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The PLA consists of five service branches: the Ground Force, Navy, Air Force, ...

of the

Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victoriou ...

and became an air base of the

Nanjing Military Region The Nanjing Military Region () was one of the former seven military command regions for the Chinese People's Liberation Army. Its jurisdiction covers all military and armed police located in Anhui, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Fujian, and Shanghai ...

of the newly established

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. The airport was again expanded in 1954. In July 1956 Dajiaochang Airport became a dual-use military and public airport when all civil flights serving Nanjing were transferred here from the old Ming Palace Airport. On 28 June 1997,

was opened and all civil flights were transferred to the new airport. The final civil flight departed Dajiaochang Airport on 30 June. With the rapid expansion of the city of Nanjing, the military Dajiaochang Airport, originally far from the city, is surrounded by the urban area and increasingly restricting its development. Since 2003 the local government and the military have been in talks on relocating the air base. In January 2006 a site for the new airport was determined and the project received approvals from the

State Council State Council may refer to: Government * State Council of the Republic of Korea, the national cabinet of South Korea, headed by the President * State Council of the People's Republic of China, the national cabinet and chief administrative auth ...

and the Central Military Commission in January 2009. On 8 August 2012, construction for the new Nanjing Luhe Airport was started in suburban

Luhe District Luhe District () (sometimes read as ''Liùhé'' ''Qū'') is one of 11 districts of Nanjing, the capital of Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an eastern coastal province of the Peop ...

north of the

Yangtze The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest river in Asia, the third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains (Tibetan Plateau) and flows ...

. On 30 July 2015, the airport was permanently closed after the military air base was transferred to the Luhe Airport. A area encompassing Dajiaochang Airport will be redeveloped into a commercial and residential area. Its historic runway will be conserved as a public open space.

Accidents and Incidents

On 31 July 1992, the

China General Aviation China General Aviation (Corporation - CGAC) was an airline based in Taiyuan Wusu International Airport, China. It operated a fleet of 8 Yakovlev Yak-42D and later 3 Boeing 737-300 aircraft. It was acquired by China Eastern Airlines in 1997. Co ...

Flight 7552 bound for

Xiamen Xiamen ( , ; ), also known as Amoy (, from Hokkien pronunciation ), is a sub-provincial city in southeastern Fujian, People's Republic of China, beside the Taiwan Strait. It is divided into six districts: Huli, Siming, Jimei, Tong'an, ...

crashed soon after taking off from Dajiaochang Airport. The Soviet-made Yakovlev 42D crashed into a pond 600 meters past the runway at 15:12 and caught fire, killing 8 of the 10 crew members and 100 of the 116 passengers.

References