A total of 22 buildings have now been roofed in the terminal area of Lishui Airport, marking another key step forward before the final start of operations.

The drive to provide an airport for Lishui – located in East China's Zhejiang province – emerged from the demands of its citizens.

In 2008 the Lishui municipal government raised the strategic proposal for its construction, as it was seen that an airport would give the mountainous city a strong boost to its development.

"Since we began construction, we have many elderly folks in their 70s coming to inquire about progress," said Zheng Liping, the director of the airport’s construction headquarters.

In May 2023, using artificial rainfall technology innovatively to accelerate earthwork settlement, Lishui Airport completed backfilling work totaling 51.34 million cubic meters.

In the wake of prior preparations, the airport will now commence its runway construction and finish electrical installations for its tower and the central substation before the end of this year.

Classified as a domestic regional 4C airport, Lishui Airport is projected to handle 1 million passengers and 4,000 metric tons of cargo in 2025.

It plans to open routes from Lishui to major cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou. Other routes will be extended to provincial capitals such as Chengdu, Wuhan, Xi'an and Harbin.