It is located in the town of Jianqiao in Jianggan District, about 7 miles northeast of the city center.

[3] Jianqiao was developed into an airfield and flight training institute in 1922 under support and directives of the Anhui clique warlord Lu Yongxiang and World War I veteran ace fighter pilot Zhu Binhou,[4] with a squadron of aircraft that included Breguet 14s.

[5] Jianqiao air force base was then consolidated in 1931 in wake of the Mukden Incident by the Nationalist Government of the Republic of China, and was a location of major air battles between the Chinese air force and the Imperial Japanese air forces (such as the Jianqiao Battle) during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–45); battles scenes of Jianqiao which were re-enacted in a Taiwanese motion-picture patriotic war drama Heroes of the Eastern Skies (or Heroes of Jianqiao).

The airport was expanded in 1971 in preparation for the official visit of President Richard Nixon of the United States.

[3] When Jianqiao Airport serviced commercial flights, it housed the headquarters of Zhejiang Airlines.