Built at a cost of 19.8 billion yuan, the new airport is 28 kilometres (17 mi) north of downtown Guangzhou and nearly five times larger than its predecessor.

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.

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.

[7] The new transport centre (GTC) is under construction on the south side of terminal 2; passengers will be able to go to Guangzhou downtown by taking metro, rail, bus or taxi there.

The new Asia-Pacific hub covers an area of approximate 63 hectares (160 acres), with a total floor space of 82,000 square metres (880,000 sq ft).

[11] 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.

On 17 November 2008, after several months of testing, FedEx announced that the opening date was delayed to the first half of 2009 when the hub was expected to be fully operational.

Following a successful operations' process, the flight departed on time for its final destination at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, France.

[14] The first flight that arrived at the new FedEx Asia-Pacific hub originated from Indianapolis International Airport.

[19] The four-runway system will normally be operating as follows: In August 2008, the airport's expansion plan was approved by the National Development and Reform Commission.

Other facilities comprise new indoor and outdoor car parks and a transportation centre with metro and inter-city train services.

[6] The third phase expansion plan has been approved by the National Development and Reform Commission of China.

The buses will take passengers from/to Dongguan, Foshan, Zhongshan, Huizhou, Jiangmen and other destinations.