Xinjin Airport (ICAO : ZUXJ)

 airport, Second World War 1939-1945, place with historical importance

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Xinjin Airport is a government-use airfield located in Xinjin County approximately 2km East of Chengdu. Presently used by the Civil Aviation Flight University of China for pilot training, the airport offers no scheduled commercial passenger service.

Xinjin Airport was one of four sites in China which were selected by Allied forces to serve as forward-deployed bases for American B-29 Superfortress Bombers to stage attacks on the Japanese Mainland as well as targets in Japanese-occupied areas. Then known by the Anglicanized name of Hsinching Airfield, elements of the 58th Bombardment Wing started arriving at the base in the spring of 1944 and began overseeing the construction of the airfield using local labor forces. Offensive missions utilizing the B-29 started in July 1944, with Hsinching being the staging point for long-range attacks on Burma, Thailand, China, Japan, Indonesia, and Formosa.

Despite initial successes, B-29 operations out of Hsinching and other Chinese airbases proved to be a logistical nightmare for Allied forces, as all supplies needed for each aircraft and mission had to be flown into the bases from India over "The Hump" of the Himalayan Mountains. This already challenging scenario was compounded by the early B-29's constant need for maintenance and capricious appetite for fuel, all of which led to many of the assigned aircraft to Hsinching remaining grounded during raids waiting for resupply. By early 1945 American forces had secured enough lands on the Marianas Islands to allow the B-29's of the 58th Bombardment Wing and XX Bomber Command to redeploy from their Chinese and Indian bases to North Field, Tinian in February 1945 where they continued their fight against the Empire of Japan for the duration of the war. Hsinching airfield remained in use as an Allied communications base for the duration of the Second World War and was returned to the Chinese Government on August 29th, 1945.

For more information regarding Hsinching/Xinjin Airport's role in the Second World War, please see:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Matterhorn