Located 16km to the south west of Urumqi city this airport offers domestic and international flights. It is a hub airport for China Southern Airlines and Hainan Airlines and is the 21st busiest airport in China.

A third terminal is currently under construction which will raise capacity of the airport to more than 16 million passenger per year. Since 2005 international flights have been operating from here with Korean Air flying to Seoul and Pakistan International Airlines flying to Islamabad. Other internationla flights operate to Kabul and Novosibirsk.

China Southern Airlines fly throughout Xinjiang province and to many Chinese cities as do Hainan Airlines.

Cargo flights also operate internationally and domestically with China Southern Airlines flying to Frankfurt and Shanghai.