This new futuristic air hub is as mind-bending as the city itself

It’s a partnership made in architectural heaven.

Chongqing, often dubbed the world’s cyberpunk capital for its amazing cityscape, has unveiled a spectacular new airport terminal by Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA). And it’s not just any terminal.

The new Terminal 3B at Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport is now the world’s largest satellite terminal by air-passenger traffic. Designed to serve 35 million passengers annually, it almost doubles the airport’s capacity to 80 million travellers a year, alongside 580,000 aircraft movements and 1.2 million tonnes of cargo.

The scale is enormous. Arranged in an X-shaped floor plan, T3B contains 71 aircraft gates (more than Sydney Airport’s three terminals combined) and stretches 846 metres from north to south and 590 metres from east to west. Covering almost 363,000 square metres across four above-ground floors and two basement levels, it marks the final major expansion in the airport’s transformation into one of China’s leading aviation hubs.

If Chongqing Jiangbei reaches its expanded 80 million-passenger capacity, it will be knocking on the door of the top 10 biggest airports globally, as measured by passenger movement.

In central south-west China where the Yangtze and Jialing rivers meet, Chongqing is a city that appears to defy the laws of urban planning. Built across steep mountainsides and river valleys, Chongqing has become an unlikely social media sensation, with videos of trains passing through apartment buildings, roads stacked atop roads and seemingly impossible vertical neighbourhoods attracting millions of views. While it may not have the same name recognition as Beijing, Shanghai or Chengdu, Chongqing is China’s largest municipality by population, home to more than 30 million people.

ZHA, founded by the late Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid, is known and awarded for its boundary-pushing designs. Hadid was the first woman to win the Pritzker Architecture Prize.

Drawing inspiration from Chongqing’s dramatic mountain and river landscapes, the terminal’s sweeping roofline undulates across the site, punctuated by skylights that channel natural light deep into the building. From above, the vast structure resembles a giant cross between a transportation hub and a piece of contemporary sculpture.

As with most ZHA projects, however, the visual drama serves a practical purpose.

The terminal is arranged radially around a central transit station and connected to the airport’s existing Terminal 3A via underground metro links and air-side service lanes. The layout is designed to simplify navigation and minimise walking distances, while separate arrival and departure flows reduce congestion during peak periods.

Outdoor terraces and courtyards provide passengers with access to natural light and open air, while each of the terminal’s four piers incorporates a mix of aircraft stands to allow greater flexibility for airlines and faster gate allocation.

Passengers travelling through T3B check in and clear security at Terminal 3A before boarding a fully automated underground people mover, a driverless monorail that whisks travellers between terminals in about three minutes.

The terminal has also been designed with sustainability in mind. Operating within Chongqing’s humid subtropical climate, T3B uses a zero-carbon air heat source system that eliminates the need for traditional gas-fired boilers, avoiding the annual consumption of approximately 1.4 million cubic metres of natural gas.

Locally sourced materials were prioritised during construction, while adaptive thermal glazing responds to changing sunlight and temperatures to improve energy efficiency throughout the year.

Long overshadowed internationally by China’s better-known cities, Chongqing is increasingly attracting attention for not just its extraordinary architecture, but also food and urban culture. Now it has an airport terminal every bit as enticing as the city it serves.