While China’s 10-million-passenger airports compete on intercontinental nonstops and global connectivity, Taiyuan Wusu Airport has introduced a rather unusual route:
Starting March 29, a Taiyuan–Chongqing–Chiang Mai service has been launched, marketed as Shanxi’s first direct link to northern Thailand.
But it is clear to anyone familiar with the industry that this is still a stopover service. Passengers must transit via Chongqing, meaning it cannot be considered a true nonstop international flight.
This is not an isolated case, but rather a long-standing reality for Taiyuan Airport.
As a standard 10-million-plus passenger hub—with 14.57 million passengers handled in 2025—Taiyuan Wusu Airport stands out as a rare case among its peers, with virtually no genuine nonstop international routes.
Recently, the airport also introduced through-ticket services from Taiyuan via Chengdu Tianfu International Airport to Cairo, Melbourne, Rome, and Madrid, offering passengers a more seamless experience with through check-in and baggage transfer.
Even so, these routes still rely on domestic hub connections rather than originating as nonstop international flights from Taiyuan itself.
The reasons behind this are already evident in the data.
According to CAAC statistics on route-based passenger throughput at China’s hub airports in 2025, international passengers account for less than 1% at Taiyuan Airport. Passenger demand is highly concentrated on major hubs such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen, with relatively weak support from business travelers and independent outbound passengers—resulting in a structurally low share of international traffic.
Coupled with intense competition from nearby major international hubs like Beijing and Tianjin, airlines operating nonstop international routes from Taiyuan have long faced the pressure of “losing money on every flight.”
As a result, Taiyuan Airport has shifted toward a “connectivity via hubs” approach, leveraging major domestic hubs to extend its international reach. While not the most direct path to global connectivity, it is a more commercially viable strategy aligned with its local demand base and airline economics.
