Beijing Nanyuan Airport was a

People's Liberation Army Air Force The People's Liberation Army Air Force, also referred to as the Chinese Air Force () or the People's Air Force (), is the primary aerial warfare service of the People's Liberation Army. The PLAAF controls most of the PLA's air assets, includi ...

Base and a secondary commercial airport of

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

, the capital of

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. Located in

Fengtai District Fengtai District ( zh, s=丰台区, p=Fēngtái Qū) is a district of the city of Beijing. It lies mostly to the southwest of the city center, extending into the city's southwestern suburbs beyond the 6th Ring Road, Sixth Ring Road, but also to th ...

, south of the 4th Ring Road and from

Tiananmen Square Tiananmen Square or Tian'anmen Square () is a city square in the city center of Beijing, China, named after the Tiananmen ("''Gate of Heavenly Peace''") located to its north, which separates it from the Forbidden City. The square contains th ...

, Nanyuan Airport was first opened in 1910, making it the oldest airport in China. It was the main operating base for China United Airlines, which was also the airport's sole airline. Nanyuan Airport ceased civil operations on 25 September 2019, after all commercial passenger flights (operated by China United Airlines) were moved to the newly opened

Beijing Daxing International Airport Beijing Daxing International Airport is one of two international airports serving Beijing, the capital of China (the other being Beijing Capital International Airport). The airport is located on the border of Beijing and Langfang, Hebe ...

. It remained operational as a

military base for 5 more days until 30 September 2019, when the (known as "New Nanyuan Airport" during construction, adjacent to Beijing Daxing Airport) opened.

History

The first aircraft landed in the Nanyuan area in 1904. In July 1907, the government built rudimentary runways in Nanyuan's Yijun training ground (also known as the Wulidian soldier training ground) and used it for a light aircraft purchased from France. In August 1910, the Qing government began to establish air transportation in China with the construction of a factory in Nanyuan to experiment with manufacturing aircraft, thereby officially opening the Nanyuan airport for regular use. Nanyuan airport was the first airport in China and one of the three operational airports opened before 1910s in the world. After the

Xinhai Revolution The 1911 Revolution, also known as the Xinhai Revolution or Hsinhai Revolution, ended China's last imperial dynasty, the Qing dynasty, and led to the establishment of the Republic of China (ROC). The revolution was the culmination of a decade ...

Yuan Shikai Yuan Shikai (; 16 September 18596 June 1916) was a Chinese general and statesman who served as the second provisional president and the first official president of the Republic of China, head of the Beiyang government from 1912 to 1916 and ...

, who followed suggestions from the French advisers, established the first official flying academy in China in 1913, Nanyuan Flying Academy, with Li Ruyan as chief, and purchased 10 French

Caudron The Société des Avions Caudron was a French aircraft company founded in 1909 as the Association Aéroplanes Caudron Frères by brothers Gaston and René Caudron. It was one of the earliest aircraft manufacturers in France and produced planes for ...

trainer aircraft for 300,000 silver dollars. After the

Second Zhili–Fengtian War The Second Zhili–Fengtian War (Second Chihli-Fengtien War; ) of 1924 was a conflict between the Japanese-backed Fengtian clique based in Manchuria, and the more liberal Zhili clique controlling Beijing and backed by Anglo-American business inte ...

, the academy was closed. However, the more than 100 pilots that trained in the academy over 4 terms have played important roles in China's aviation history. Later on, some of them become key persons in civil aviation. In the brief episode of the

Manchu Restoration The Manchu Restoration or Dingsi Restoration (), also known as Zhang Xun Restoration (), or Xuantong Restoration (), was an attempt to restore the Chinese monarchy by General Zhang Xun, whose army seized Beijing and briefly reinstalled the las ...

led by Qing loyalist general

Zhang Xun Zhang Xun (; September 16, 1854 – September 11, 1923), courtesy name Shaoxuan (), art name Songshou Laoren (), nickname Bianshuai (, ), was a Chinese general and Qing loyalist who attempted to restore the abdicated emperor Puyi in the Manch ...

in July 1917, then-

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...

Duan Qirui ordered a Caudron Type D aircraft piloted by Pan Shizhong (潘世忠) and bombardier Du Yuyuan (杜裕源) of the country's fledgling air force based in Nanyuan to fly to and drop bombs over the Forbidden City; three bombs were dropped, causing the death of a eunuch but otherwise minor damage. During the Sino-Japanese War, the Japanese Army extended the airport, upgraded its air traffic control facilities, and changed the name to Nanyuan military camp. After the

surrender of Japan The surrender of the Empire of Japan in World War II was Hirohito surrender broadcast, announced by Emperor Hirohito on 15 August and formally Japanese Instrument of Surrender, signed on 2 September 1945, End of World War II in Asia, ending ...

in 1945, Nanyuan Airport became one of the most important airports for the

Nationalist government The Nationalist government, officially the National Government of the Republic of China, refers to the government of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China from 1 July 1925 to 20 May 1948, led by the nationalist Kuomintang (KMT ...

and its

air force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...

. The private planes of Chiang Kai-shek and Fu Zuoyi have taken off from the Nanyuan Airport; many of

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT) is a major political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). It was the one party state, sole ruling party of the country Republic of China (1912-1949), during its rule from 1927 to 1949 in Mainland China until Retreat ...

's important military and government personnel have also boarded flights from Nanyuan. A

Curtiss C-46 Commando The Curtiss C-46 Commando is a low-wing, twin-engine aircraft derived from the Curtiss CW-20 pressurized high-altitude airliner design. Early press reports used the name "Condor III" but the Commando name was in use by early 1942 in company p ...

also crashed near the airport in 1945. During 1946

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

fighter squadron VMF-218 was based here. In December 1948, the

People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the military of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the People's Republic of China (PRC). It consists of four Military branch, services—People's Liberation Army Ground Force, Ground Force, People's ...

took control of the airport. In August 1949, the first flying brigade of the

was formed here and they participated in the People's Republic of China Founding Ceremony's flying missions. Since then, Nanyuan Airport has been supporting the training of air and ground forces in all of the subsequent National Day Show of Force events. In 1986, China United Airlines was established as a military-owned civil airline with special authorization to use military airports. Becoming the first commercial airline to serve Nanyuan, it turned the airbase into its main hub. It has continued to operate out of the airbase despite its 2004 privatization and sale to Shanghai Airlines. In 2008, Nanyuan Airport witnessed a high growth rate. The total number of passengers served increased by 80.1%, reaching 1,357,038; total freight loaded/unloaded reached 13,243 tonnes, which was a 65.6% increase from the previous year. Traffic movements also had a very strong growth rate of 72.2%, registering 12,245. Nanyuan Airport opened a new terminal in September 2013 with a designed passenger handling capacity of 6 million people. The previous terminal was capable of handling 2.8 million passengers during 2011. Nanyuan ceased civil operation on 25 September 2019 after all commercial passenger flights were moved to the newly opened

. It remained operational as a

air base until late September 2019, when the (known as "New Nanyuan Airport" during construction) opened.

References

{{authority control Airports established in 1910 Airports disestablished in 2019 1910 establishments in China Airports in Beijing Defunct airports in China Chinese Air Force bases Buildings and structures in Fengtai District Transport in Fengtai District 2019 disestablishments in China

History

See also

References