The immigration stations at Baotou Donghe Airport. [Photo/WeChat account of Baotou Daily]

Baotou aviation port recently passed the on-site inspection by the national acceptance team, meaning that Donghe Airport in Baotou now officially offers international shipping.

Established in 1934, Baotou Donghe Airport has two terminals, with the international terminal covering an area of 12,000 square meters. It is the first independently-operated international terminal in Inner Mongolia autonomous region.

The airport received temporary approval for its first external opening in August 2016, and since then it has been granted temporary openings seven times.

Since the initial opening, Baotou Airport has gradually introduced 12 international and regional routes, connecting destinations such as Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia, Bangkok in Thailand, and Incheon in South Korea. A total of 1,263 flights have been operated, accommodating 130,400 passengers. In November 2019, the State Council approved the permanent opening of Baotou Aviation Port.

To improve its facilities, Baotou invested 182 million yuan ($25.37 million) to expand and renovate the international terminal. The project included the construction of a firefighting and on-site medical emergency center, weather radar, customs cargo supervision warehouse, and 35 offices for customs and immigration entry-exit operations.

The airport's operational level has reached 4D, meaning it is capable of handling an annual domestic passenger throughput of 3 million and an international passenger throughput of 300,000.