Passengers take a walk at the international visitors service desk at the Haikou Meilan International Airport in Haikou, South China's Hainan Province, on December 14, 2025. Photo: Courtesy of Haikou Meilan International Airport

Haikou Meilan International Airport announced that its international and regional passenger traffic exceeded 1.4 million as of Saturday this year, surpassing the previous peak set in 2019 and the highest since the airport began commercial operations, the Global Times learned from the airport on Sunday.  

A Chinese expert credited the surge to an expanded international route network, infrastructure upgrades, and enhanced passenger services, all of which have improved connectivity and convenience for both inbound visitors and transit passengers. 

The milestone comes ahead of the official launch of island-wide independent customs operation for the Hainan Free Trade Port (FTP), scheduled for Thursday, a move expected to accelerate global resource inflows and strengthen the island's role as an international gateway.

Since the start of 2025, the airport has expanded its global route network by adding new long-haul and regional destinations, including London, Jeddah (Saudi Arabia), Auckland (New Zealand), Kuching (Malaysia) and Nha Trang (Vietnam), an airport spokesperson told the Global Times on Sunday.

The airport's international and regional network now comprises 43 routes operated by 15 domestic and foreign carriers, linking Haikou with 25 cities across 19 countries and regions, spanning Southeast Asia, Northeast Asia, the Middle East, Europe, Australasia and North America. 

Arrivals and departures involving Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand surpassed 630,000 in 2025, up 7.2 percent year-on-year, helping to deepen trade, tourism and cultural ties between Hainan and Southeast Asia, according to the airport spokesperson.

As the independent customs operation for the Hainan FTP draws near, and in response to rising international transfer demand, Hainan Airlines will leverage its local hub advantage to meet rising international transfer demand and provide more convenient services for travelers. It will add three new international routes in late December: Haikou-Hanoi, Haikou-Ho Chi Minh City and Qionghai (Boao)-Kuala Lumpur, lifting the hub's winter schedule to 28 destinations, Zhang Da, a deputy director of the Hainan Regional Marketing Center in the sales department of Hainan Airlines, told the Global Times.

"This milestone reflects Meilan Airport's growing appeal as an air hub facing the Pacific and Indian Oceans, and underscores Hainan's rising international attractiveness," Wang Haiyan, an assistant manager of the Logistics Development Department of Haikou Meilan International Airport, told the Global Times, adding that the airport is stepping up efforts to build international and intercontinental passenger and cargo routes linking China with airports in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership members such as Bangkok, Singapore, Seoul and Australia's Melbourne and Sydney.

"By maintaining flights to these countries, Haikou has emerged as a major southern transit hub, comparable to Guangzhou, South China's Guangdong Province," Zhou Mi, a senior researcher at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, told the Global Times on Sunday. 

The policy system of the FTP, underpinned by zero tariffs, low tax rates and simplified tax regimes, as well as a policy framework centered on free and convenient trade, investment, cross-border capital flows, personnel mobility, and the safe and orderly flow of data, is reshaping the area and driving it toward becoming an international FTP, Zhou added.

With the island-wide independent customs operation about to take effect, the Chinese expert expects an influx of global talent and capital, as Hainan advances a high-level opening to the world.

Authorities have introduced new facilitation measures, including 144-hour visa-free entry for foreign tour groups from Hong Kong and Macao; 15-day visa-free entry for foreign tour groups arriving by cruise ships; and a 240-hour transit visa exemption, covering a range of entry scenarios, China National Radio (CNR) reported on Sunday.

As of Friday, local immigration authorities had processed a total of 2.47 million inbound and outbound travelers. Among them, visa‑free foreign arrivals totaled 548,000, accounting for 89.6 percent of all inbound foreign travelers — a 25 percent increase over the previous peak. Coupled with "route expansion + policy optimization," Hainan has opened 85 international routes, and the magnetic pull of the free trade port continues to strengthen, said a border inspection station official, according to CNR.