[3] It is located in the suburban Jiangning District, over 35 km (22 mi) south of the city center, and is connected to Nanjing and neighboring towns by expressways.

The final project, as planned, would be the largest in Asia and the third-largest in the world of its kind.

In preparation for the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics, hosted by Nanjing, Terminal 2 was completed after more than three years of construction.

Also completed were a new parallel runway with taxiways, a new tower, new aircraft parking positions, and new cargo handling facilities.

[7] With the added capacity, Nanjing Airport has seen rapid increase in both aircraft movement and total passengers.

The older section of the airport consists of: Terminal 1 was closed on 14 July 2014 for renovation, it reopened on 29 July 2020 and serves all domestic flights except China Eastern Airlines and Shenzhen Airlines flights which depart exclusively from Terminal 2.

The Phase 2 expansion includes:[11] The two terminals are also connected by the transportation center structure.