Huizhou Pingtan Airport is a dual-use military and civil airport serving the city of Huizhou in South Central China's Guangdong province. It is located in the town of Pingtan in Huiyang District, 20 kilometers from the city center. The military airport served commercial flights between 1985 and 2002, but stopped when the military was forbidden to operate commercial businesses.
In 2025, the airport operated 52 routes, serving 43 destinations across 41 cities. According to the Civil Aviation Administration of China, in 2025, the airport recorded 25,638 flight take-offs and landings, 11,661.4 metric tons of cargo movements, and 3.365 million passenger movements, representing a year-on-year increases of 17.0%, 24.7% and 18.1% respectively.
Huizhou Pingtan Airport was first built in February 1953 as Huiyang Pingtan Airport and covered an area of âÂÂâÂÂ5,225 mu (çÂÂ). It was a secondâÂÂclass Air Force wartime airfield constructed for national defense. For decades, it served as an important military base and played a key role in airâÂÂdefense operations along ChinaâÂÂs southeastern coast during the 1960s and 1970s. From 1985 to 2002, Huizhou Airport operated civilâÂÂmilitary joint flights. During this period, more than a dozen air routes were opened, with over 12,000 aircraft movements and more than one million arriving and departing passengers. These services played a significant role in promoting HuizhouâÂÂs economic and social development.
In 2002, civil aviation operations were suspended following national policy adjustments that required the military to withdraw from commercial activities.
The airportâÂÂs reconstruction and expansion project was relaunched in March 2011, when the Guangdong Airport Authority and the Huizhou Municipal Government signed the Framework Agreement on Jointly Promoting the Operation and Development of Huizhou MilitaryâÂÂCivil Airport (å ±åÂÂæ¨è¿Âæ å·ÂÃ¥ÂÂæ°ÂÃ¥ÂÂç¨æºåºè¿ÂèÂ¥ä¸ÂÃ¥ÂÂå±ÂÃ¥ÂÂä½Âæ¡Âæ¶åÂÂè®®). On 8 April 2014, the National Development and Reform Commission and the General Staff Department of the PLA jointly approved the feasibility study report for the airportâÂÂs reconstruction and expansion. Construction began on 25 June 2014. Subsequently, the airport's airfield area passed major milestones including completion acceptance, calibration flights, test flights, and industry inspections. The terminal area also successfully passed both completion acceptance and industry acceptance, paving the way for the resumption of civil aviation operations. The airport was reopened on 5 February 2015.
To meet the rapidly growing demand for passenger throughput and to further enhance Huizhou AirportâÂÂs operational capacity, the Guangdong Airport Authority launched a major expansion project in 2018. The project included the construction of a new Terminal 2 (T2) building with a floor area of approximately 16,300 mò, the expansion of aircraft stands (bringing the total to eight CâÂÂclass stands) and the relocation and reconstruction of the cargo terminal (about 1,800 mò). In June 2018, construction began on the airfield and cargo terminal components of the expansion project, both of which were completed and put into use in November of the same year. In October 2018, work commenced on the T2 terminal building and its supporting facilities. The project passed industry acceptance on 27 August 2019, and Terminal 2 officially entered service on 28 August 2019.