Xining Caojiabao International Airport
Xining Caojiabao International Airport
Xining Caojiapu International Airport (IATA: XNN, ICAO: ZLXN) is an airport serving Xining, the capital of Qinghai Province, China. It is located in Huzhu County, Haidong, on the Tibetan Plateau about 30 kilometres (19 mi) east of downtown Xining. The airport began operation in 1991. In October 2011, a new 3,800-meter runway entered service. The older runway now serves as a taxiway. According to the Civil Aviation Administration of China, in 2025, Xining Caojiapu International Airport recorded 63,344 flight takeoffs and landings, and 7.88 million passenger movements, representing a year-on-year increases of 12.1% and 11.9% respectively.
Location
36.528°N, 102.040°E · 2.170 m s. n. m. (7.119 ft)
General data
Runways · 1
Lengths and surfaces from the public OurAirports register; open runways only.
History
The first airport in the area was located near the town of Lejiawan, 17 km (11 mi) west of the current airport. Built on the orders of military governor Ma Bufang in 1931, it saw limited use by commercial airlines in 1933. In 1957, the runway was expanded to 2,600 metres (8,500 ft) and more facilities were added. A commercial route flew between Xining, Lanzhou, Baotou, and Beijing with fewer than 1,000 passengers per year. The airport was shared with the military.
In 1975, plans were made to relocate the airport, as the Lejiawan Airport was limited by a one-way gravel runway. Construction of Caojiapu airport was approved by the State Council on 17 May 1985 and started in 1989. The airport opened in December 1991. The site of the former airport is now a military base.
Airlines operating here · 23
Other airlines with direct routes
Airlines with current passenger routes from here, according to Wikipedia route tables cross-checked from both ends (October 2026).
Photo: B_cool · CC BY 2.0 · view original
Data from OurAirports (public domain) · destinations and airlines from Wikipedia route tables (CC BY-SA, 2026), unless another source is given · profile and photo from Wikidata/Wikimedia Commons (CC0 / CC) · summary and history from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).
Cite
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This page was last updated on October 15, 2026
APA
Vuelopedia. (2026, October 15). Xining Caojiabao International Airport (XNN). Retrieved October 18, 2026, from https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/XNN
MLA
“Xining Caojiabao International Airport (XNN).” Vuelopedia, Fundación Poderia, 15 Oct. 2026, vuelopedia.org/en/airport/XNN. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.
Chicago
Vuelopedia. “Xining Caojiabao International Airport (XNN).” Fundación Poderia. Last modified October 15, 2026. https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/XNN.
Harvard
Vuelopedia (2026) Xining Caojiabao International Airport (XNN). Available at: https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/XNN (Accessed: 18 October 2026).
BibTeX
@misc{vuelopedia_en_airport_xnn,
author = {{Vuelopedia}},
title = {{Xining Caojiabao International Airport (XNN)}},
publisher = {Fundación Poderia},
year = {2026},
date = {2026-10-15},
url = {https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/XNN},
howpublished = {\url{https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/XNN}},
urldate = {2026-10-18},
note = {Accessed 2026-10-18}
}Wikipedia
{{cite web |url=https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/XNN |title=Xining Caojiabao International Airport (XNN) |website=Vuelopedia |publisher=Fundación Poderia |date=2026-10-15 |access-date=2026-10-18 |language=en}}