An airliner passes through a ceremonial water gate at the Hangzhou International Airport on May 16. [Photo/tidenews.com.cn]

At approximately 2 pm on May 16, a plane from Osaka, Japan landed smoothly at Hangzhou International Airport, passing through a ceremonial water gate and parking at the newly operational Gate 431 of the North Three Concourse in Terminal 4.

This marks the full opening of the airport's T4 North Three Concourse.

The North Three Concourse features a total of eight jet bridges, three of which began operating in September 2023. The remaining five bridges and their accompanying aprons are now fully operational.

Gate 430 is an F-class large gate, capable of accommodating the world's largest wide-body aircraft, the Airbus A380, which is a four-engine, 525-seat, double-deck aircraft. The other four gates are E-class, suitable for large wide-body aircraft, such as the Boeing B747 and B777 and Airbus A350.

With the complete opening of the concourse, the percentage of international flights at the airport using jet bridges is expected to increase by 7 percent, reaching around 90 percent, which is above the national average for airports in China.

This expansion increases the airport's capacity for large aircraft. The total number of parking positions at the airport has risen from 206 to 211, with the number of gates at the E-class or larger in T4 increasing from nine to 14.

In 2023, the airport's annual passenger throughput hit a historic high, re-entering the ranks of the world's busiest airports with over 40 million passengers. With the addition and intensification of international flights, the first quarter of this year saw the airport handle 1.04 million international passengers and 6,520 flights, more than triple the figures from the same period in 2023. The newly operational five jet bridges in the North Three Concourse will primarily serve international flights, accommodating over 40 flights and 10,000 passengers daily.

The airliner stops by a newly opened jet bridge. [Photo/tidenews.com.cn]