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Revision as of 05:32, 12 December 2020 by Got Milked(talk | contribs)(→History: Link to units of the War of Resistance-World War II era Chinese Air Force.)
Xinyang Minggang Airport (IATA: XAI, ICAO: ZHXY), or Minggang Air Base, is a dual-use civil and military airport serving the city of Xinyang in Henan Province, China. It is in the town of Minggang, about 45 kilometres (28 mi) from downtown Xinyang and 48 kilometres (30 mi) from the city of Zhumadian.[1]
History
The military air base formerly known as Zhumadian Airbase was built in the 1930s and served important national defense operations following the Manchurian Incident; Zhumadian was critical in supporting the Nationalist Chinese Air Force operations in the northern-front during the War of Resistance-World War II,[2] and was where the 4th Fighter-Attack Group of the Chinese Air Force launched their close-air support missions for Chinese ground forces fighting the Imperial Japanese Army at the Battle of Taierzhuang.[3] The airbase was completely modernized in 1958, and in September 2011, the State Council and the Central Military Commission approved the proposal to convert the base to a dual-use airport. Construction began in November 2015, and a test flight was completed on 23 May 2018.[4] The airport was officially opened on 28 October 2018 for commercial passenger operations, with an inaugural China Eastern Airlines MU9921 flight from Xi'an Xianyang International Airport.[5] The construction budget was 360 million yuan.[5]
Facilities
Xinyang Minggang Airport has a runway that is 2,700 meters long and 50 meters wide (class 4C), and a 5,000 square-meter terminal building. It is projected to handle 300,000 passengers and 2,500 tons of cargo per year by 2020.[1][6]