Chengdu airport to city: the short answer
Chengdu has two airports: Tianfu International Airport (成都天府国际机场, TFU) and Shuangliu International Airport (双流国际机场, CTU). The easiest way into town from Tianfu is metro Line 18 from the Ground Transportation Center (GTC). The airport prints CNY 10 from Huochenanzhan (火车南站) to Tianfu Airport T1/T2. Huochenanzhan is the metro station at Chengdu South Railway Station.
Airport buses are the other main choice. They cost CNY 15 from 06:00 to 23:30 and go to Chunxi Road (春熙路), Kuanzhai Alleys (宽窄巷子) and Chengdu East Railway Station (成都东客站). At Shuangliu, the metro stops at Terminal 1 and Terminal 2. For the city itself, see our Chengdu travel guide.
Which airport and terminal for international flights?
At Tianfu, the arrivals flow printed by the airport puts international, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan arrivals at Terminal 1 (T1), level L2. The steps are: arrivals, health quarantine and immigration inspection, baggage claim, customs, then the GTC. Leave the baggage hall by exit A1 and follow the signs to the GTC. You choose how to leave the airport there. The flow is an image on the airport's site and carries no date.
Shuangliu's metro, rail and taxi pages do not say where international flights land. Check your airline ticket for the airport name before you plan the ride.
Tianfu Airport to the city by metro (Line 18 and Line 19)
Board at the GTC, L1 transfer hall. The metro hotline is 028-61638000.
- Line 18 runs along the east side of Tianfu Avenue. It starts at Huochenanzhan in the north and ends at Tianfu Airport North in the south. It passes Century City (世纪城), Xibocheng (西博城) and Tianfu Airport T1/T2.
- Line 19 runs northwest to southeast, from Jinxing station in Wenjiang to Tianfu station. It runs through with Line 18 to Tianfu Airport North. The airport's page calls it a fast trunk line with an airport-line function.
Fares as printed on the airport's ground transport page. Fares from other stations are not listed there.
| Line | Trip | Fare |
|---|---|---|
| Line 18 | Huochenanzhan to Tianfu Airport T1/T2 | CNY 10 |
| Line 18 | Huochenanzhan to Tianfu Airport North | CNY 10 |
| Line 19 | Jinxing to Tianfu Airport T1/T2 | CNY 12 |
| Line 19 | Jinxing to Tianfu Airport North | CNY 12 |
The page gives no first or last train times for Line 18 or Line 19, so it does not say whether the metro runs all night. It points to the Chengdu Metro website (www.chengdurail.com) and the Chengdu Metro app (成都地铁) for first and last trains, holiday extended hours and fares.
The page also says you can ride with a QR code in the Chengdu Metro app, linked to Alipay or WeChat, and that the codes work in Chongqing, Xi'an and Zhengzhou.
Tianfu Airport bus: lines, times and fares
Board at ground level outside Gate G01 (the link between Terminal 1 and the GTC) or Gate G03 (the link between Terminal 2 and the GTC). The airport calls them Tianfu International Airport Bus Lines, run by Chengdu Public Transport Group's Xingchen Bus Co., with a 24-hour duty phone at 028-62676868. The page's text says six routes. The route images show eight lines: four day lines and four night lines.
The airport shows the routes and timetables as images, and the images carry no date. The page says changes to lines, stops, times and fares follow what is posted at the platform. If the platform notice differs from the table below, trust the platform. Online tickets are provided by Chengdu Public Transport Group, and the page says to check the Chengdu Bus (成都公交) app mini-program for changes to lines, stops and times; the bus hotline is 028-85076868.
Fares on all routes as printed: CNY 15 from 06:00 (included) to 23:30, and CNY 25 from 23:30 (included) to 06:00 next day. Line 2, which only runs 08:00-20:00, lists only CNY 15. So do the Panda Base to airport and Chengdu East to airport directions. Night Lines 5 and 6 list only CNY 25.
| Line | Route | Hours | Every |
|---|---|---|---|
| Line 1 | Airport, Wanke Road Intersection, Chunxi Road (春熙路) | 24 hours | 15-30 minutes, leaves when full |
| Line 2 | Airport, Shuangqiaozi, Kuanzhai Alleys (宽窄巷子) | 08:00-20:00 | 30 minutes |
| Line 3 | Airport, Metro Bali Zhuang station, Chengdu Zoo bus station, Panda Base West Gate (熊猫基地（西门）) | Airport to Panda Base 5:35-19:05; Panda Base to airport 8:30-19:00 | 30 minutes out; 60 minutes back |
| Line 4 | Airport, Chengdu East Railway Station (成都东客站) | Airport to East Station 8:15-01:30 next day; East Station to airport 06:00-23:30 | 20-30 minutes out; 30 minutes back |
| Night Line 2 | Airport, Jinsha Transport Hub (金沙公交枢纽站) | 20:30-7:30 next day | 30-60 minutes |
| Night Line 3 | Airport, Chengdu Zoo bus station | From the airport 19:35-4:35; from the zoo 19:30-8:00 | 30-60 minutes |
| Night Line 5 | Airport, Global Center (环球中心), Shuangliu Airport | 00:00-5:00 | 60 minutes |
| Night Line 6 | Airport, Metro Haichang Road, Metro 3rd Tianfu Street, Global Center | Airport end 23:30-3:40; Global Center end 01:05-5:15 | 60-70 minutes |
The printed timetables name the airport stop as Terminal 2 (T2). Line 3 ends at Panda Base West Gate; for tickets and timing there, see Chengdu Panda Base tickets and timing.
Landing late at night
Bus Line 1 to Chunxi Road is listed as running 24 hours, every 15-30 minutes, with a CNY 25 fare from 23:30 to 06:00. Night Lines 2, 3, 5 and 6 are listed too. Since the airport gives no late metro times, the bus is the option with printed hours.
Tianfu Airport taxi and ride-hailing pick-up
- Taxi: ground level outside Gate G02 (Terminal 1 side) or Gate G04 (Terminal 2 side). For trips within Chengdu's administrative area the meter runs and there is no empty-return surcharge. The page gives no price or typical fare.
- Ride-hailing: the pick-up area is on L1 of Parking Building 1 (1号停车楼). The page gives no price.
- Long-distance coach: the station is inside the GTC, with the boarding hall on L1 and the ticket hall on L2. It is real-name ticketing and the page asks you to bring your original ID card. It does not say whether a passport works, so ask at the station on 028-86905511.
Tianfu Airport to Chengdu East or Chengdu South Railway Station
For which station suits your train, read Chengdu railway stations: which one to use. Here is only how to get there from Tianfu.
To Chengdu South: Line 18, no change
Line 18 from the airport ends at Huochenanzhan, the metro station for the railway's Chengdu South Station. It is also a three-line interchange of Lines 1, 7 and 18. The airport prints CNY 10 for Huochenanzhan to Tianfu Airport T1/T2. Neither the airport's page nor Chengdu Rail Transit Group's 2023 notice gives a journey time.
A notice from Chengdu Rail Transit Group dated 2023-04-28 says passengers arriving by rail at Chengdu South can transfer to the metro without leaving the station or passing a second security check. In the other direction, from metro to rail, passengers still went through railway security before the waiting hall at the time of that notice.
To Chengdu East: bus Line 4, or Line 18 plus Line 7
- Bus Line 4: from the airport 8:15 to 01:30 next day, every 20-30 minutes. CNY 15 in the daytime fare window; CNY 25 from 23:30. Back from East Station, 06:00 to 23:30, every 30 minutes.
- Metro: the Chengdu Rail Transit network map shows Chengdu East Railway Station on Lines 2 and 7, and Huochenanzhan on Lines 1, 7 and 18. Line 7 is drawn as a loop that passes both. So the route is Line 18 to Huochenanzhan, then Line 7 to Chengdu East. The map is stylised, and it shows no times or fares for this trip.
Shuangliu Airport to the city: Line 10 metro and trains
The Shuangliu airport page lists four stops: Taipingyuan, Shuangliu Airport T1, Shuangliu Airport T2 and Xinping. The Tianfu transfer page names the line as Line 10. Entrances:
- Terminal 1: outside Gate 01 on the first floor of the T1 parking building.
- Terminal 2: the page's English is unclear: "Passage L2, L3, L4 on the B2, B/C exit of metro in the parking of T2". It points to the metro entrance in the T2 parking, reached from the B2 level.
First and last trains as printed on the Shuangliu metro page. The hotline is 0086-028-61638000.
| Station | Taipingyuan to Xinping direction | Xinping to Taipingyuan direction |
|---|---|---|
| Taipingyuan | First 06:00, last 23:10 | End of line |
| Shuangliu Airport T1 | First 06:11, last 23:22 | First 06:03, last 23:15 |
| Shuangliu Airport T2 | First 06:14, last 23:25 | First 06:14, last 23:12 |
| Xinping | End of line | First 06:00, last 23:40 |
That page gives no fare, journey time or interchange stations. The Tianfu airport's two-airport page prints CNY 11 for the full Shuangliu-to-Tianfu metro route, which starts on Line 10; see further down.
Trains from Shuangliu Airport
The rail entrance is at Terminal 2, Passage L3 on the B2 level. Shuangliu Airport station is marked as an airport, metro and train transfer station. Chengdu East and Chengdu South are both listed as stops, each marked as a metro transfer station, on the Chengdu-Mianyang-Leshan Intercity Railway and the Chengdu-Guiyang High Speed Railway. The Chengdu-Zigong-Luzhou line lists Chengdu South and Shuangliu Airport as well. The page gives no timetable, fare or journey time. It says to use 12306 (www.12306.cn, or phone 12306) for stops, fares and timetables.
Shuangliu taxi
The T2 pick-up is near the crosswalk on the arrivals level. For T1, the page reads "Suspend the service", and it carries no date. Fares follow "the information on the website", with no number. The transport supervision phone is 0086-12328. This page has no Shuangliu bus, coach or ride-hailing details.
How to get between Tianfu (TFU) and Shuangliu (CTU)
The Tianfu site's two-airport page lists three ways: self-drive, metro and the Tianfu airport bus.
| Way | Route | Time and fare as printed |
|---|---|---|
| Metro | Shuangliu T2 or T1 on Line 10, change at Huaxing (华兴) to Line 9, change at Fuhuayuan (孵化园) to Line 18, to Tianfu Airport T1/T2 | About 65 minutes, CNY 11 |
| Line 19 through train | Line 19 to Tianfu Airport T1/T2 | About 30 minutes |
| Line 19 local | Shuangliu Airport Terminal 2 East (双流机场2号航站楼东) to Tianfu Airport T1/T2 | About 50 minutes |
| Night bus | Tianfu Airport Bus Line 5 via Global Center (环球中心) | 00:00-05:00, every 60 minutes, CNY 25 |
| Self-drive | Shuangliu, S6 Chengdu Airport Expressway, G4202 Chengdu Ring Expressway, S3 Tianfu Airport Expressway (T1/T2 toll gate), Tianfu | Not given |
A fare of CNY 10 (票价10元) is printed after both Line 19 entries. The page does not say which of the two it belongs to, or whether it covers both. The night bus timetable shows departures at 0:00, 1:00, 2:00, 3:00, 4:00 and 5:00 from each airport.
If you would rather not do this with luggage, we can arrange a private car or a train ticket for the onward leg.
