The passenger volume of Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport reached 40 million on Thursday, making it the fourth airport on the Chinese mainland to handle more than 40 million passengers a year, after Beijing Capital International Airport, Shanghai Pudong International Airport, and Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport.

The airport is expected to handle 42 million passengers this year, making it among the world’s Top 30 in terms of passenger volume, according to Shao Mingzhi, deputy manager of the Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport Co., Ltd.

By the end of November, Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport had 165 domestic and 84 international routes, connecting Chengdu to 192 domestic and overseas destinations, including San Francisco, London, Moscow, and Melbourne.

Air China will launch a non-stop route between Chengdu and Paris on Dec 12.

Chengdu has planned to open 3 international non-stop routes annually in the next five years, which will enable the city to have 55 international non-stop routes by 2020, according to Chen Zhongwei, director of Chengdu Port and Logistics Office.

“We will build Chengdu into an ideal transfer station that connects Europe, Africa and the Middle East to Southeast Asia, Oceania, and North America,” he said.

Chengdu is scheduled to build a new airport, making it the third city on the Chinese mainland to have a second civil airport, after Beijing and Shanghai.

The Tianfu International Airport will mainly serve international routes. The first phase of the new airport will be finished by 2018, with annual capacity to handle 40 million passengers and 700,000 metric tons of cargo. The long-term goal is to handle 90 million passengers and 2 million tons of cargo annually.