Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport is the international airport serving Guangzhou, the capital of Southern China's Guangdong province. The two airport codes were inherited from the former Baiyun Airport, and the IATA code is derived from Guangzhou's historical romanization Canton. Baiyun Airport serves as a hub for China Southern Airlines, FedEx Express, 9 Air, Hainan Airlines and Shenzhen Airlines. In 2020, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on aviation, it was the world's busiest airport by passenger traffic, handling 43.8 million passengers. In 2021, Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport was the world's eighth-busiest airport by passenger traffic, with 40.2 million passengers handled, making it also the busiest airport outside the United States, and the busiest in China. As for cargo traffic, the airport was China's second-busiest, as well as the second-busiest airport worldwide in terms of aircraft movements. Overview 1932–2004 The old Baiyun Airport opened in 1932. Due to the expansion of Guangzhou, the airport could not expand to meet passengers needs as buildings surrounded the airport. On 5 August 2004, the new Baiyun Airport opened and the old airport was closed. Since 2004 The new airport is located in Guangzhou's Baiyun District and Huadu District and opened on 5 August 2004 as a replacement for the 72-year-old, identically named former airport, which is now closed. Built at a cost of 19.8 billion yuan, the new airport is north of downtown Guangzhou and nearly five times larger than its predecessor. "Baiyun" () means "white cloud" in Chinese and refers to the Baiyun Mountain (Baiyunshan), near the former airport even though the mountain is much closer to downtown Guangzhou than it is to the new airport. It is also referred to as "New Baiyun" to distinguish it from the previous airport, but this is not a part of the official name. Former curfews and restrictions did not apply to the new airport so it could operate 24 hours a day, allowing China Southern Airlines to maximise intercontinental route utilisation with overnight flights. Other airlines also benefit from the removal of previous restrictions. Data Runways: 3—, and Aircraft parking bays: 173 (passenger apron and cargo apron) Current passenger capacity: 45 million passengers per year Planned passenger capacity in 2020: 80 million passengers per year Current cargo capacity: 1 million tonnes Planned cargo capacity in 2020: 2.5 million tonnes Destinations: 100 (mostly domestic) Branch airports: Jieyang, Meizhou, Zhanjiang Planned branch airports: Shaoguan, Zhaoqing