Guangzhou Baiyun set an all-time record in 2025: 83.59 million passengers and 2.44 million tonnes of cargo — and then changed shape. Terminal 3, the world's largest single terminal building, opened in late October 2025, and on 22 January 2026 every international flight moved into it. The airport now runs three terminals and five runways.
T3 opened on 30 October 2025 as the world's largest single-terminal building. Airlines relocated in two phases; from 22 January 2026 it hosts all international and regional flights — 30 foreign carriers plus the international services of China Eastern, Hainan, Shenzhen Airlines and Spring — while T1 keeps domestic flying for Air China, Hainan and Shenzhen Airlines.
The expansion put Baiyun into a three-terminal, five-runway configuration, and international routes grew to 146+ with nearly 30 intercontinental. Roughly 40 international routes were opened, resumed or up-gauged during 2025 alone; cross-border traffic passed one million passengers by 19 January 2026, three days earlier than the year before.
Baiyun is the home hub of China Southern — Asia's largest airline by fleet — which carried 173.7 million passengers group-wide in 2025, with international RPKs up 14.8%. For the traveler this means the deepest Australia, Southeast Asia and increasingly Europe/Africa coverage of any southern-China airport.
Within the Greater Bay Area, the seven-airport cluster moved 230 million passengers in 2025 — Baiyun 83.6M, Hong Kong 61M, Shenzhen 66.5M — and Guangzhou's role is the mainland gateway: domestic depth plus growing intercontinental reach.
Metro Line 3 serves T1/T2 directly; the airport north extension and intercity rail serve T3, with metro and intercity frequencies adjusted to flight schedules since the T3 opening. Airport express buses cover the Pearl River Delta.
Guangzhou South — the country's busiest high-speed station by train frequency, ~150 million passengers a year — is on Lines 2 and 7; Hong Kong is under an hour away by high-speed train to West Kowloon. The GBA's "one-hour circle" is operational reality.
Terminal discipline is now the Baiyun skill: check whether your flight uses T1 or T3 before you leave the hotel — they are separate buildings with separate metro stops, and an error costs half an hour. Arriving internationally, you'll land in the new T3: immigration is fast and the intercity rail hall is in the building. And a trade-fair warning that doubles as a tip: during Canton Fair sessions, Baiyun's evening departure banks fill with buyers — arrive earlier than instinct suggests, or use the in-town check-in and ride Line 3 with the locals.
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