Airport Hub · Xianyang (XIY)
48.5 million passengers in 2025 — 11th in China — and a new terminal designed for 50 million more: Xi’an Xianyang is building the aviation capital of the country’s northwest.
Phase III cost ¥46.9 billion and targets 83 million passengers and 1 million tonnes of cargo a year by 2030; the masterplan beyond that runs to five runways, 1.5 million m² of terminals and 120 million passengers. T5 itself — 705,500 m², “main building plus six piers” — takes all international and Hong Kong/Macao/Taiwan flights plus China Eastern, Shanghai Airlines and China United.
Operations already justify it: 47.04 million passengers in 2024, then 48.54 million in 2025, on a network of 300-plus routes to more than 150 cities. China Eastern and Hainan Airlines both hub here, and XIY is an approved 240-hour visa-free transit port.
Since 20 February 2025, every international flight uses T5; domestic transfers are still migrating, so trust the terminal printed on your boarding pass, not the airline website. A free 24-hour shuttle (every 5–10 minutes) links T2, T3 and T5 — and Metro Line 14 covers T2/T3–T5 in eight minutes, free between airport stations with a flight ticket.
Line 14 also doubles as the airport express into town, meeting Lines 2 and 4 at Xi’an North station. The airport sits 25–40 km northwest of the center — allow a solid hour to the Bell Tower, longer at rush hour.
XIY is the rare airport where the new terminal genuinely improves the trip: T5 is calmer, faster and culturally worth the detour. Book international flights without hesitation — but for domestic departures, check your terminal twice in the final week, and budget a full hour for the ride into town.
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