Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport is the main airport serving Hangzhou, a major city in the Yangtze River Delta region and capital of Zhejiang Province, China.The airport has direct services to many domestic and international destinations, with many travellers stopping to visit Hangzhou itself, 30 kilometres away and one of the most important tourist cities in China, famous for its natural beauty and historical heritage.
Hangzhou airport handled nearly 32 million passengers in 2016, ranking it 10th in terms of passenger traffic. The airport has one runway which is 3,800 metres long and 60 metres wide with a passenger terminal capable of handling 8,520 passengers an hour with the ability to handle aircraft as large as a Boeing 747-400. The departure area has 90 check-in desks and 21 self-check-in and ticket counters. The airport was designed by Aedas, one of the world’s largest architecture firms.
There is a bus service from Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport linking to points throughout various cities in Jiangsu. Taxis service the airport as well as buses from the airport to central Hangzhou. The Airport is accessed from Airport Road, which connects to the Airport Expressway and is linked to downtown Hangzhou by the Xixing Bridge.
On the evening of 9 July 2010, the airport was shut down for an hour when an unidentified flying object was detected. Air traffic control could not locate it on radar and delayed the landing and arrival of 18 flights. Though normal operations were resumed four hours later, the incident captured the attention of the Chinese media and started a blaze of speculation on the UFO's identity.