Kunming Changshui International Airport guide

Kunming Changshui International Airport sits in Guandu district, about 24.5 kilometers northeast of downtown Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province in southwestern China. It opened on 28 June 2012, replacing the older Kunming Wujiaba International Airport, and stands roughly 2,100 meters above sea level in mountainous terrain, making it one of the highest-elevation major airports in the country. Yunnan Airport Group operates the facility.

Two parallel runways, 4.5 kilometers and 4 kilometers long, support traffic that reached nearly 49.7 million passengers and almost 341,000 aircraft movements in 2025, ranking Kunming among the ten busiest airports in mainland China. The single terminal building covers 548,300 square meters, one of the largest in the country, with 66 jet-bridge gates among 88 gates in total.

China Eastern Airlines, Lucky Air, Kunming Airlines and Ruili Airlines all base hubs at the airport, alongside China Southern Airlines, Air China, Sichuan Airlines and West Air. Its position on the Yunnan-Guizhou plateau makes it a key gateway between mainland China and Southeast Asia, with routes reaching into Laos, Vietnam, Myanmar and Thailand.