Aviation History
Commercial aviation in China began in the late 1920s with early carriers such as the China National Aviation Corporation, a Chinese-American joint venture. After 1949, civil aviation was placed under the state-run Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), which for decades acted as both regulator and sole operator. Economic reforms from the late 1970s onward led to the breakup of CAAC's direct airline operations in the late 1980s into what became China's major carriers. Since then China has built one of the world's largest domestic aviation markets and rapidly expanded airport infrastructure, while also developing an indigenous aircraft manufacturing industry through COMAC.
CNAC, a joint Chinese-American venture, began operating as one of China's earliest commercial airlines.
Following the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Civil Aviation Administration of China was created to regulate and, initially, directly operate all civil air transport.
China's economic reform and opening-up policies, beginning in the late 1970s, set the stage for rapid expansion and eventual restructuring of civil aviation.
CAAC's direct airline operations were divided into separate regional carriers, forming the basis of Air China, China Eastern, and China Southern Airlines.
A major new terminal opened at Beijing Capital International Airport ahead of the 2008 Olympics, part of a broader wave of Chinese airport expansion.
The ARJ21 regional jet, developed by state-owned COMAC, entered commercial airline service, marking China's first indigenously developed jet airliner in operation.
The COMAC C919 narrow-body airliner began commercial passenger service with China Eastern Airlines, China's first large jet aimed at competing with Boeing and Airbus.
Air China · China Southern Airlines · China Eastern Airlines · Hainan Airlines
General aviation history and industry sources; China's market size rankings and the international certification/export status of COMAC aircraft may have changed since research date.
Aviation Firsts
Beijing Nanyuan Airport (1910): Opened Aug 1910 under the Qing government; Wikipedia's own article states this is 'the oldest airport in China.' Civil operations ended 25 Sep 2019, military use ended 30 Sep 2019. · Wikipedia ↗
Longhua Airport — Shanghai (1929): Airfield operations from late 1922, opened as an airport June 1929; described as 'one of China's first airports with more than one runway.' Closed/demolished 2013, reopened as a heliport in Dec 2017. · Wikipedia ↗
Taipei Songshan Airport — Taipei (1936): Built 28 Mar 1936 under Japanese rule; still fully operating today (domestic + select international routes). Flagged separately given the PRC/Taiwan sovereignty question, without taking a position on it. · Wikipedia ↗
Mainland China's documented oldest airport (Nanyuan, 1910) has been closed since 2019, so no verified 'oldest-and-still-operating' mainland PRC airport was found. If Taiwan is included, Songshan (1936) is a much older airport still fully active.
China National Aviation Corporation (CNAC) (1929): Established by the Nationalist government 5 Apr 1929 (reorganized 8 Jul 1930). Nationalized after 1949, fully merged into the People's Aviation Company of China in May 1952, which became CAAC Airlines in June 1953. · Wikipedia ↗
Air China (1988): Founded 1 Jul 1988, part of the post-CAAC restructuring (alongside China Eastern/China Southern). · CA ↗ · Wikipedia ↗
Within mainland China (PRC), no airline older than the 1988 CAAC-split carriers is still operating — all pre-1949 carriers were nationalized/dissolved. Cathay Pacific (Hong Kong, founded 1946, operating) is far older but no source makes an explicit 'China's oldest airline' comparison including Hong Kong.
dnata (United Arab Emirates), 2007: dnata signed a 15-year joint venture with China West Airport Group (CWAG) in July 2007 — "Xi'an Dnata Aviation Services Company Limited" (dnata 45% / CWAG 55%) — to provide ground handling at Xi'an Xianyang International Airport and 10 other CWAG-managed airports. Swissport's own China launch came far later (Shanghai Pudong cargo terminal, October 2025), making dnata the earliest documented foreign GH entrant found. No source explicitly calls dnata "the first" foreign GH company in China. (best-documented candidate found — not source-confirmed as literally first.) · Gulf News ↗
Aviation Museums1
Fleet by Operator
Passengers by Operator
Annual Passenger Traffic by Airport
Airlines22
Live Air Traffic1 aircraft
Source: adsb.lol — community ADS-B network. Busiest of this country’s top 6 profiled airports by traffic right now, not a full national count.
Aircraft Spotted Here
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