Jurong Air Base

The air base was closed and its military units were relocated primarily to clear the airspace for the new, major civilian airport in the region, Nanjing Lukou International Airport (IATA: NKG, ICAO: ZSNJ), which opened in July 1997. The proximity of Jurong Air Base to the flight paths of the new international airport made its continued operation as a fighter base impractical and hazardous.

The site has been substantially redeveloped. A large portion of the former base, including support areas, is now the campus for the Jiangsu Agri-animal Husbandry Vocational College (江苏农牧科技职业学院). While the main runway, taxiways, and some hardened aircraft shelters are still physically intact and clearly visible from satellite imagery, they are no longer used for military aviation. The runway has reportedly been used for non-aviation activities like vehicle testing and driver training.

Jurong Air Base was a significant People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) facility. Its primary role was the air defense of the strategically vital Nanjing region and the Yangtze River Delta. The base housed fighter jet regiments, including units of the 29th Air Division, which operated aircraft like the Shenyang J-6 (a Chinese variant of the MiG-19). The airport was exclusively military and never handled scheduled commercial passenger or cargo flights.

There are no plans to reopen Jurong Air Base as a military installation or a major commercial airport. However, the site is the focus of a significant redevelopment project to transform it into a General Aviation (GA) hub, known as the 'Jurong Aviation Town' (句容航空小镇). This plan aims to leverage the existing runway and infrastructure for GA activities, including pilot training, aircraft assembly and maintenance, aviation R&D, and air tourism. This represents a repurposing and revitalization of the site for a new aviation role rather than a traditional reopening.