On September 15, Shenzhen officially announced that the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) Central-South Regional Administration has officially approved the naming of the relocation and reconstruction project of Nantou Helicopter Airport to Zhangkengjing, Longhua, which will be named "Shenzhen Longhua Airport". Covering a total area of approximately 58,300 square meters, this Class A1 general aviation airport features an 800-meter runway and 26 parking stands. With a total investment of approximately CNY 1 billion, it is expected to be completed and put into operation by the end of 2027.
If a footnote is needed for the "No. 1 City in China's Low-Altitude Economy", this is the latest one.
Part I | Four Leading Tracks of a Model City
Shenzhen is taking the lead, not just as a slogan, but by leading simultaneously across four tracks.
Policy track: The first special regulation on the low-altitude economy in China originated in Shenzhen. Before the newly revised Civil Aviation Law came into effect on July 1 this year, Shenzhen had already completed its local legislation process.
Route track: By the end of 2025, a total of 310 low-altitude logistics routes had been opened; according to the 2026 plan of the Municipal People's Congress, the number of cargo routes throughout the year should reach over 330. Shenzhen is also the first city in China to release a special plan for low-altitude routes—rather than just adding routes one by one, it draws the chessboard first before placing the pieces.
Finance track: The Qianhai "Twelve Measures for Financial Empowerment of the Low-Altitude Economy" came into effect on September 1, providing a complete set of financial tools for the operational phase all at once, including insurance, credit, leasing, and first-flight rewards. Shenzhen also issued the first special bonds in China to support the entire industrial chain of the low-altitude economy.
Infrastructure track: By the end of 2025, 1,284 various low-altitude take-off and landing sites had been built, with a target of over 1,500 in 2026, aiming for an industrial scale of CNY 130 billion. Now, the heaviest piece is added—a Class A1 general aviation airport.
Policy, routes, finance, and infrastructure—any other city leading in just one of these would be worth holding a press conference for, yet Shenzhen is leading in all four tracks.
Part II | The Two Dropped Words
The most thought-provoking detail this time is the name: changing from "Nantou Helicopter Airport" to "Shenzhen Longhua Airport", the word "Helicopter" has been dropped.
This is not just a change of signboard, but a change in asset nature. Class A1 is the highest level of public access among general aviation airports—specifically providing services for commercial manned flights of aircraft with a capacity of more than 10 passengers. Note the word "commercial": in the future, it will be legal to charge fares for passengers here, not just for parking helicopters or conducting training.
The function list also confirms this: helicopter operations, flight training, emergency rescue, aircraft test flights, eVTOL verification testing, plus air tours, aviation training, and cross-border logistics. From a simple tarmac to a comprehensive test site, the difference of those two characters doubles the utility of the asset.
Part III | Site Selection: The Model City Hands in Its Paper First
The previous article discussed how much the 18 characters and three sentences from the NDRC are worth: translating the 18 characters from the NDRC into your cash flow, one of which is "suburbs first, urban areas later".
Zhangkengjing is in the north of Longhua, at the edge of the city. Shenzhen did not cram the airport into the city center to seek good luck—it does exactly what the policy dictates, and it takes the lead in doing so.
A negative example is also in Shenzhen: Nantou Helicopter Airport was built in 1983, the earliest airport in the Special Economic Zone. Over forty years later, the city's growth has enveloped it into the city center—buildings cannot be constructed high, noise disturbs residents, and safety hazards keep accumulating. The decision to relocate was made in 2012, and after the ordeal of site selection and approval, it took a full fourteen years to finalize.
This is a lesson Shenzhen has exchanged for the whole country over fourteen years: take-off and landing facilities are urban assets with a lifespan. One wrong choice in site selection means paying ten times the price to relocate a decade later.
Part IV | CNY 1 Billion Is Just an Anchor
A CNY 1 billion investment sounds daunting, but in Shenzhen's overall plan, it buys the anchor for the entire chess game.
Take-off and landing sites are capillaries, while the airport is the heart. Capillaries can be spread across rooftops, parks, and hospitals, but heavy tasks such as testing and certification, test flight verification, and maintenance support can only be handled by the airport. In March, Shenzhen also established the first municipal low-altitude economy group in China, and Longhua Airport fits perfectly into the integrated plan of "infrastructure + operation".
Aircraft manufacturers can build planes, but whether they can complete testing, accumulate enough data, and get the ticket for commercialization—this is exactly the kind of site that South China lacked in the past. What Shenzhen is making up for is not the "take-off and landing" link, but the "verification" link—the most critical bottleneck in the industry.
Part V | Three Signals for Operators
First, after it is put into operation by the end of 2027, test flight, training, and testing resources in South China will be repriced, and the costs for entities located nearby will drop first.
Second, the "Airport + Industrial Park + Full-Scenario Demonstration Center" is planned as a package. Supporting investment promotion will start immediately, so service providers should keep a close eye on Longhua.
Third, building the runway is only the first half of the game. Who will operate it, under what standards, and how to balance the books—there are no ready-made answers for these questions anywhere in the country. Building an airport reflects an infrastructure mindset, while maintaining and operating it reflects an operational mindset; between them lies an unwritten ledger.
Policy provides direction, routes provide the network, finance provides ammunition, and infrastructure provides the venue—Shenzhen has drawn all four cards first.
The remaining question, which is also left for operators across the country, is: the exam room is built, who will be the first to hand in their paper? In your city, which of the four tracks is the most lacking? Welcome to leave a comment.
—— This article was first published on the WeChat official account "Jingzhe: Summer by the Xiaohe River" ——