In 1950, four flight routes from Tianjin, Chengdu, Guangzhou and Kunming to Chongqing became the earliest to be opened after the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949.

In 1965, the Civil Aviation Administration of China opened an office in Sichuan Province and Chongqing Airport became subject to it.

[citation needed] On 1 November 2015, the annual passengers at Jiangbei Airport exceeded 30 million for the first time.

[citation needed] The expansion project Phase III, which included a second runway and an additional Terminal, T2, started construction in 2007 and completed in 2010.

It also added a second terminal building (T2) with an area of 86,000 square meters (930,000 sq ft), 41 apron aircraft parking stands, and a freight station and support facilities occupying an area of 20,000 square meters (220,000 sq ft).

[citation needed] The most recent expansion - Phase IV (dubbed the Eastern Expansion) - of Jiangbei Airport has been the biggest and contains the construction of a third runway and a new terminal, T3A, being 530,000 square meters (5,700,000 sq ft), more than double the size of the existing terminals (T1 and T2A/T2B) combined, costing CNY26.0 billion (US$4.1 billion).

[8] Before 2010, Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport's international destinations all terminated in East and Southeast Asia, including direct flights to Tokyo (has stop-over in Beijing or Shanghai), Seoul, Singapore, Bangkok, Phuket, Siem Reap, etc.

[citation needed] With the new T3A terminal in operation since August 2017,[10] the airport has had multiple new international routes with non-stop flights to London, Dubai, Los Angeles, New York, Sydney, Melbourne, Rome, Paris, Budapest, etc.

Four highways around the airport are either under construction or have been built, as part of plans to turn Chongqing into an integrated regional transport hub in western China.

[103] There is a 300,000-square-meter (3,200,000 sq ft) GTC (Ground Transportation Centre) in front of T3A's main terminal building, providing transfer to inter-city rail, metro, buses, long-distance coach and taxis.

[107][108] Chongqing Rail Transit Line 3 runs from Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport's Terminal 2 station, going through the city center via Lianglukou station and onto its final stop, Yudong, covering a distance of 60 kilometres (37 mi).

Line 10 also reduces the travel distance between Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport and Chongqingbei Railway Station, which can facilitate the transfers of passengers between air and rail.

Terminal 3A has a large underground railway station as part of its GTC (Ground Transportation Center).

[111] The station is designed to connect cities as far as 300 kilometers away, thus allowing Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport to serve a significantly larger population.