Nantong Airport Guide: Jiangsu Gateway Across the Yangtze
Nantong Airport sits across the Yangtze from Shanghai. Explore its long runway, airlines, domestic routes, transport links and plans for the future.
By The Aviation Hub
7 min read
Updated October 20, 2026 
Nantong sits on the north bank of the Yangtze, looking across the estuary towards Shanghai. Nantong Airport, officially Nantong Xingdong International Airport, serves a manufacturing city of more than seven million people in Jiangsu Province. It handles roughly four million passengers a year on a single long runway. That makes it a busy secondary field in one of China’s wealthiest regions, and a practical alternative to the crowded Shanghai airports for travellers north of the river.
Nantong Airport at a Glance
The IATA code is NTG and the ICAO code is ZSNT. Nantong Airport lies in Xingdong town, Tongzhou District, about 6 miles (10 km) northeast of the city centre. Shanghai is around 75 miles (120 km) away by road. The field sits just 16 feet (5 metres) above sea level on the flat, water laced plain of the Yangtze delta.
One runway serves a compact terminal area. Official Chinese data put traffic at about 3.7 million passengers in 2023, and the figure has since climbed to around four million. Cargo reached roughly 60,000 tonnes in the same year, with around 37,000 aircraft movements. A spread of Chinese carriers share the schedule rather than one dominant home airline. Timetables and services are listed on the airport’s official website.
How Nantong’s Airport Came to Be
Nantong was an industrial town long before it was an aviation market. The reformer Zhang Jian built cotton mills, schools and a museum there in the early twentieth century, and textiles still matter to the local economy. By the late 1980s the city’s export factories needed faster links to the rest of China. There was no bridge across the Yangtze downstream of Nanjing, so ferries carried most traffic to Shanghai and Suzhou.
Construction began in 1990, and Nantong Airport opened to flights in 1993. The Xingdong name comes from the town that hosts the field, not from a person. Growth was gradual for two decades. The airport handled about 1.5 million passengers in 2016, then more than doubled that within seven years as local incomes rose.
Bridges reshaped the picture. The Sutong Bridge opened in 2008 and put Shanghai’s airports within a comfortable drive. The road and rail Hutong Bridge followed in 2020, carrying high speed trains straight into Shanghai. The local field has competed with Hongqiao and Pudong ever since, and it wins on convenience, shorter queues and direct flights to inland cities.
Runways at Nantong Airport
A single concrete runway, 18/36, runs north to south. It measures 3,400 metres (11,155 feet) long and 45 metres (148 feet) wide. That is generous for a regional field. Fully loaded wide body aircraft can use it, and narrow body jets have ample margin on hot, humid summer afternoons.
The delta is flat, so approaches from both ends are straightforward. Runway direction follows the seasons. Southeasterly monsoon winds in summer favour runway 18, with arrivals coming in over farmland to the north. Northerly winter winds bring runway 36 into use. Winter fog off the estuary is the bigger operational headache, and it can delay early departures.
With only one strip, Nantong Airport has no backup during closures or resurfacing work. Current traffic of around 100 movements a day leaves headroom. Any big jump in demand, though, would eventually call for a second runway.
Terminals and Airlines
Passenger facilities are compact and quick to use. Check in, security and boarding sit close together, and walking distances are short. Domestic flights make up nearly all of the timetable. Customs and immigration facilities handle flights abroad when they are scheduled.
The airline mix reflects the wider Chinese market. The three big state groups, Air China, China Eastern and China Southern, appear through their main brands and subsidiaries, alongside independent and low cost operators. Alliance loyalty counts for little here, since most passengers are making simple point to point trips. Narrow body jets such as the Airbus A320neo and Boeing 737-800 do almost all of the flying.
The schedule at Nantong Airport is not built around one large home carrier, unlike Nanjing, where China Eastern keeps a major base. That keeps fares competitive on popular routes. It also means frequencies can shift quickly when an airline redeploys aircraft elsewhere.
Routes and Destinations
The route map points south and west. Shanghai’s airports cover much of the coastal and long haul demand, so Nantong earns its living on domestic links that would otherwise mean a trek to Pudong. Beijing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen typically form the core trunk routes. Chengdu, Chongqing, Kunming and Xi’an connect the city with the interior, while Harbin, Shenyang and Dalian serve the northeast.
Leisure flying peaks in winter, when sun seekers head for Sanya and Haikou on Hainan Island. Summer adds capacity to cooler northern cities. Short international services to Northeast and Southeast Asia have appeared at times, though they tend to come and go with demand.
Cargo matters more than the passenger figures suggest. Volumes have grown from around 35,000 tonnes in 2016 to roughly 60,000 tonnes. Most of it travels in the holds of passenger jets, much of it express parcels for the region’s busy online retail trade.
Getting to and from Nantong Airport
Road is the main way in. A taxi from central Nantong to the airport takes around 20 to 30 minutes, depending on traffic, and costs far less than a comparable ride in Shanghai. Airport shuttle buses link the terminal with the city centre and the main railway stations. Coaches also serve nearby towns such as Rugao, Haimen and Qidong.
The city’s metro opened its first line in 2022, but it does not reach the terminal at the time of writing. Rail travellers connect at the city’s stations instead. High speed trains over the Hutong Bridge reach Shanghai in roughly an hour. That link lets some travellers from Shanghai’s northern suburbs consider flying from here when fares are cheaper.
Drivers find surface parking close to the terminal, with rates well below those at the Shanghai airports. For most visitors the cheapest sensible option is the airport bus into town, followed by a short taxi or metro ride.
Spotting and Photography
China has no strong tradition of organised spotting, and Nantong Airport offers no official viewing terrace. Enthusiasts instead use public roads around the perimeter, where the flat land gives clear views of the approaches. The southern end is worth checking when runway 36 is in use, as arrivals pass low over open fields.
Light is simple to plan around on a north to south runway. The east side suits morning shots and the west side suits the afternoon. Summer haze is common, so the crisp days after a winter cold front tend to give the best results.
Photography near Chinese airports can attract attention from police and security staff. Stay on public land, keep away from fences, carry identification and move on politely if asked. A long lens used from a respectful distance causes far fewer problems than a tripod by the boundary.
What Comes Next
The bigger story lies elsewhere in Nantong. Plans for a much larger new airport for Nantong, pitched as an addition to Shanghai’s multi airport system, have moved forward in national and regional planning in recent years. If that project goes ahead at full scale, the role of the current site would almost certainly be reviewed.
Until then, the existing field has room to grow. The long runway can take larger aircraft, and terminal space can be stretched with modest investment. Environmental pressure is lower than at many Chinese airports, since the field sits among farmland rather than dense housing. See how it compares with its Jiangsu neighbours on our Airports of the World map.
The verdict is simple. Nantong Airport is a busy, well equipped regional field that may one day hand over to a bigger neighbour. For now it remains the easiest way into the city by air.
Continue to follow The Aviation Hub for more analysis and insight.
Advertise with us Your brand, in front of an aviation audience Home page and in-article placements, sold directly, one advertiser per slot. From £250 a year. See the rates
