Xiamen Gaoqi International Airport

About Xiamen Gaoqi International Airport

Xiamen Gaoqi International Airport is an international airport serving the city of Xiamen in East China's Fujian province. It is the main airline hub for XiamenAir and TAECO, an aircraft maintenance provider. It is located on the north side of Xiamen Island, 10 km (6.2 mi) away from the city's downtown area. It was originally built by Imperial Japan during their occupation of China, and was later converted to exclusive civilian use once the Japanese surrendered World War II. A couple of renovations were made in the early- to mid-1950s under the Communist government, but the airport laid abandoned until after a second renovation in 1955 due to fears of shelling from the nearby Kinmen Island of the Nationalists. Source: "Xiamen Gaoqi International Airport" by Wikipedia contributors (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xiamen_Gaoqi_International_Airport), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Edit history on the linked Wikipedia page.

Overview

Xiamen Gaoqi International Airport is the main commercial airport for Xiamen, China. Its IATA code is XMN and its ICAO code is ZSAM. The clocks here run on Asia/Shanghai, the runway sits about 59 ft above sea level, and the airport is a large international gateway, with around 231 scheduled departure pairs in the public OpenFlights schedule plus onward connections through partner airlines.

Terminals and concourses

Most travellers will pass through one of a handful of terminal areas at Xiamen Gaoqi International Airport. Bigger fields tend to split domestic and international traffic into separate halls, each with its own arrivals area, immigration counters, customs and a landside check-in concourse. Signage is bilingual wherever the local language and English share the airport, and walking between terminals at Xiamen's main gateway is usually possible on foot. Where the aprons stretch more than a kilometre, a shuttle bus or an automated people mover takes over.

Lounges and amenities

Lounge options at Xiamen Gaoqi International Airport match what you would expect from a large international gateway. There is normally at least one airline-run lounge for premium-cabin passengers and elite-status flyers, plus an independent or contract lounge that sells day passes and accepts programmes like Priority Pass, DragonPass, Plaza Premium and LoungeKey. Inside, you can usually count on hot food, espresso, charging at every seat, decent Wi-Fi, and showers at the busier terminals. Quiet zones, prayer rooms and family areas tend to sit landside near check-in.

Getting to and from the airport

Getting between Xiamen Gaoqi International Airport and central Xiamen is straightforward. Licensed taxis queue at marked curbs outside arrivals, with metered or zoned fares posted at the rank. Ride-hail apps have a designated pickup point, often one level up at departures or in a nearby lot. Public transport varies by city. A primary gateway like this one almost always offers an express train, a metro line or a dedicated airport bus running from before the first wave of departures until after the last arrival. Long-stay parking, rental car desks and hotel shuttle stops are clustered together on the landside.

Tips for travellers

A few things worth knowing for Xiamen Gaoqi International Airport. Aim to arrive at least two hours before a domestic flight and three hours before an international one, especially during peak banks. Local time is Asia/Shanghai, so plan your transfers around the time difference if you are coming in from another zone. Save a screenshot of your boarding pass before you leave the house, since terminal Wi-Fi is hit and miss when it gets busy. If you are connecting on a partner airline, check whether your bag is tagged through to the final destination, because Xiamen Gaoqi International Airport handles a mix of in-terminal and inter-terminal connections. With 231 direct destinations on the public schedule, this is a useful node for both point-to-point trips and onward connections across China and the wider region.

More guides for XMN

Four extra pages dig deeper into lounges, layovers, getting to and from the airport, and the terminal layout itself. Open whichever one matches the problem in front of you.

Direct destinations from XMN

These are the cities you can fly to nonstop from Xiamen Gaoqi International Airport, based on the published schedule. Tap any one to open its own terminal, lounge and route guide.