The location advantages of Qingdao Jiaodong International Airport continue to expand, with its domestic and international air route network becoming increasingly dense and its aviation hub capabilities steadily improving.
At the international transit area of the airport, British tourist Olivia browsed through her pre-prepared travel guide on her phone: by presenting her transit ticket, she could redeem a free glass of draft beer and enjoy a complimentary visit to the Olympic Sailing Center. She walked to the airport's draft beer redemption point, handed over her transit ticket, and received a glass of fresh beer. She then registered at the air-rail combined transport lounge and applied for a free experience on the Olympic Sailing Center cruise. "A simple transit allowed me to encounter the beauty of Qingdao." This is a snapshot of the 'Qingyifei' series of aviation-tourism integration activities launched by Qingdao Airport Group, and a microcosm of the deep, synchronized development between the airport and the city over the past five years since its relocation.
On August 12, Qingdao Jiaodong International Airport marked the fifth anniversary of its transfer operations. Over the past five years, Qingdao Airport Group has closely adhered to the core theme of high-quality development, anchored on the main line of 'building a world-class international aviation hub'. It has continuously amplified the location advantages of the airport, thickened its domestic and international route network, and optimized its transit support system. As a result, passenger traffic scale has steadily expanded, market resilience has been continuously strengthened, the regional aviation hub status has become increasingly solid, and regional radiation capabilities have been persistently enhanced. The group has achieved leapfrog improvements in various areas including Party building guidance, safe operations, service quality, and industrial layout.
Passenger throughput has risen year after year, and hub capabilities have been steadily upgraded.
Since the transfer, Qingdao Airport has handled a total of 710,000 flights, facilitating the arrival and departure of over 94 million passengers and the transport of nearly one million tons of cargo to destinations worldwide. In 2025, the airport completed 193,000 flights, with a single-day peak of 680 flights. Annual passenger throughput exceeded 26.9 million, with single-day passenger flow breaking through the 100,000 mark for the first time, setting a new historical record since the airport's opening. From January to July this year, the airport recorded 110,000 flight movements and 15.88 million passenger trips, a year-on-year increase of 4% in passenger volume. Since July 27, single-day passenger volume has exceeded 100,000; on July 29 and 31, it climbed to 104,000 twice, setting new historical records. Entering August, the '100,000+' figure has shifted from a peak to a norm.
Route network optimization has continued, and internal and external channels have been fully opened.
To date, Qingdao Airport operates 210 passenger routes, including 181 domestic routes and 29 international and regional routes. The quality of high-frequency domestic 'air shuttles' has been continuously upgraded, with the number of domestic routes operating over 10 flights per day increasing to 12, forming a high-density, bus-like travel network. The Northeast Asian market maintains a leading position nationwide. From January to July this year, Qingdao saw nearly 8,000 passenger flights to and from South Korea, carrying 1.195 million passengers, up 4% and 15% year-on-year respectively. The number of flights and passenger volume on the Seoul and Busan routes both ranked second nationwide. The Southeast Asian market has made a strong breakthrough, with continuous new openings and increased frequencies on popular routes such as Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, and Kuala Lumpur. The proportion of Southeast Asian routes in international and regional passenger volume increased from 11% in 2025 to 19%, with a 98% year-on-year increase in passenger volume, becoming a new engine for international passenger flow growth. From January to July, the airport's international and regional passenger throughput exceeded 2.1 million, a year-on-year increase of 12%, firmly ranking among the top ten nationwide.
Cargo transformation has accelerated and improved efficiency, with the logistics sector rising strongly.
Aiming to build an international air logistics center for Shandong Province, Qingdao Airport has continuously refined its cargo network, innovated cargo products, and cultivated new logistics business formats. It has steadily promoted the resumption of all-cargo routes to Zhengzhou and solidly worked on the transportation of specialty fresh goods and the construction of the Northeast Asian cargo channel. Leveraging the advantages of being a pilot for cargo transit capacity enhancement by the Civil Aviation Administration of China, it has strengthened the 'Qingyida' transit brand, innovatively launched cross-border e-commerce transit business, and built an 'Shenzhen-Qingdao-Japan/South Korea' cross-border e-commerce air channel. It successfully opened the 'London-Qingdao-Sydney' international-to-international 'single-document-through' transit link, creating a new channel for cross-border cargo transport from Europe to Australia, providing strong support for Qingdao's acceleration in building a world-class international shipping center.
Qingdao Daily, August 12, 2026, Page 1