Terminal 1 Terminal 1 has three components, Main Terminal, Area A and Area B. All check-in counters and most retail stores are placed at the Main Terminal. The two concourses controlled by individual security checkpoints, named Area A and Area B, are the boarding gates, security checkpoints, border control, customs and quarantine, baggage reclaim and relative facilities. Since 24 January 2016, East Piers 1 and 2 are dedicated to serve international flights; domestic flights occupy the rest. From 2:00 am on 7 May 2026, Terminal 1 is temporarily closed for renovation, and flights departing from Terminal 1 are moved to Terminal 2 or 3.
Terminal 2 Terminal 2 opened on 26 April 2018, with an area measuring over 808,700 square metres, making it one of the world's largest
airport terminal facilities, designed to handle over 45 million passengers annually. It offers more modern facilites than Terminal 1. It consists of 4 levels: • Level 1: Arrival hall and baggage claim • Level 2: Domestic departures/arrivals and international arrivals • Level 3: Check-in hall and international departures • Level 4: Commercial area featuring food courts and premium lounges, alongside Gates A168-A173 Terminal 2 consists of over 35 remote gates and 56 jetbridges. The western side of the terminal, known as the B gates, solely serves domestic flights. The eastern side of the terminal, known as the A gates, solely serve international flights. Gates 168 to 173, located in the centre of the terminal, are swing gates and can serve both international (A) and domestic (B) flights as these gates are on multiple levels. Terminal 2 is currently the main hub of
China Southern Airlines, and previously served the majority of
SkyTeam and
Star Alliance member airlines, before the big switch in 2026. Terminal 2 is classified as a 5-Star Airport Terminal by
Skytrax Terminal 3 Terminal 3 opened on 30 October 2025, with an area measuring over 422,000 square metres. The terminal built using BIM digital technology and designed to operate with paper-free archives for first time in China, with its "flower" design theme. The terminal has the first open-air airport observation deck in China. As of May 7, 2026, the following airlines serve Terminal 3: •
Air China,
China Eastern Airlines,
Hainan Airlines,
Shenzhen Airlines,
Spring Airlines,
Okay Airways,
Juneyao Air,
Shanghai Airlines,
China United Airlines,
Shandong Airlines,
Tianjin Airlines,
Urumqi Air,
Kunming Airlines,
Tibet Airlines,
Capital Airlines,
Lucky Air,
West Air，
Turkish Airlines,
ANA,
Mahan Air,
Scoot,
SriLankan Airlines,
Cebu Pacific,
US-Bangla Airlines,
Centrum Air,
Iraqi Airways,
Cambodia Airways,
Myanmar Airways International,
Air Cambodia,
Thai Lion Air,
Lao Airlines,
Batik Air Malaysia,
Biman Bangladesh Airlines,
VietJet Air,
Qanot Sharq,
Thai AirAsia,
EVA Air,
Emirates,
Conviasa,
AirAsia,
MIAT Mongolian Airlines,
Ethiopian Airlines,
Nepal Airlines,
Air Algérie,
S7 Airlines,
EgyptAir and
Lion Air. Sources:
FedEx Asia-Pacific hub On 13 July 2005,
FedEx Express signed a contract with the airport authority to relocate its Asia-Pacific hub from
Subic Bay International Airport in the Philippines to Baiyun Airport. The new Asia-Pacific hub covers an area of approximate , with a total floor space of . The Guangzhou hub was, at the time of the opening, the largest
FedEx hub outside the United States, but it was later surpassed by the expanded hub at
Paris' Charles de Gaulle Airport. The hub has its own ramp control tower, a first for an international air express cargo company facility in China, which enables
FedEx to control aircraft movements on the ground, aircraft parking plans as well as loading and unloading priorities. Included at the hub are a unique package and sorting system with 16 high-speed sorting lines, seven round-out
conveyor belts and 90 primary and secondary document-sorting splits. With the new advanced system, up to 24,000 packages can be sorted an hour at the start of operations. On 17 December 2008, the hub completed its first flight operations test. A FedEx
MD-11 aircraft took off from
Subic Bay International Airport in the Philippines and landed at Baiyun Airport at 05:50 local time. The flight was handled by the new
FedEx hub team, using the
FedEx ramp control tower and the new 24,000 package per hour sort system. Following a successful operations' process, the flight departed on time for its final destination at
Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, France. This Asia-Europe flight route operated four times per week during test run.
FedEx also announced that the hub would start operation on 6 February 2009.
FedEx closed its 13-year-old Asia-Pacific hub at Subic Bay of northern Philippines on 6 February 2009, with the last flight leaving for
Taiwan just before dawn, while hub operations have moved to Baiyun Airport. The first flight that arrived at the new FedEx Asia-Pacific hub originated from
Indianapolis International Airport. The MD-11 aircraft landed at 23:07 local time at Baiyun International Airport from
Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, marking the opening and full operations of the new Asia-Pacific hub.
Runways Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport now has five runways. The third runway opened on 5 February 2015, which temporarily tackled the long‐standing capacity obstacle. The operation of the third runway expanded Baiyun Airport's capacity, pushing business up. Unfortunately, the third runway can only be used for landing, as its airspace conflicts with
Foshan Shadi Airport. The airport is planning to build two additional runways. The fifth runway 03/21 opened on October 30, 2025, makes Guangzhou Baiyun Airport the second airport to have a five-runway system in China after
Shanghai-Pudong. The five-runway system will normally be operating as follows: • Inner runways 01R/19L and 02L/20R for take off only. • Outer runways 01L/19R and 02R/20L for landing only. ==Expansion==