Altay Xuedu Airport guide

Altay Xuedu Airport serves Altay City in the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture of northern Xinjiang. It sits on the southern edge of the city, about 12 kilometres from the centre. The airport opened to traffic in October 1956 and was known as Altay Airport until it was renamed Altay Snow Capital Airport in August 2022. The new name points to the region's ski season and its tourism trade.

The airport was expanded four times, in 1985, 1999-2000, 2005-2006 and 2016-2019. The terminal building covered 12,375 square metres and was designed for 800,000 passengers a year. Traffic passed that figure in 2025, when the airport crossed one million passengers for the first time. It handled 440.5 tonnes of cargo that year. Passenger numbers were above 500,000 in 2023 and about 700,000 in 2024.

Air China, China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines, Sichuan Airlines, Spring Airlines, Tianjin Airlines, Chengdu Airlines and China Express Airlines fly here. Routes link Altay with Ürümqi and with cities across China, including Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai and Xi'an. The airport lies at an elevation of 750 metres.