China's third aviation city: two airports past 90 million passengers in 2025, a metro that grew to 721 km in fifteen years — and an inbound wave where pandas are the hook but teahouses, tailoring and night cruises are what people book.
Chengdu crossed 90 million airport passengers in 2025 — only the third Chinese city to do so, after Beijing and Shanghai — with Tianfu at 56.7 million (No.5 in China) and Shuangliu refocused on premium business routes. A Phase 2 expansion plan aims at 120 million long-term capacity.
The metro tells the same speed story: from zero lines in 2010 to 721 km and 489 stations by end-2025, carrying 2.26 billion trips a year, with fully automated Lines 13 and 30 opened in December 2025 — Line 30 bored directly under Shuangliu's live apron.
Inbound is the margin: 1.32 million foreign visits in H1 2026 alone, up 33.6%, with airport arrivals up 37.9%. The Chengdu dossier is complete — a tracker plus four urban readings: the air hub, the rail hub, the arrivals table and the money flow.
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