On October 16, reporters learned at Kunming Airport’s supply-demand matchmaking meeting for the 2026 winter flight season schedule change that Kunming Airport will officially implement the 2026 winter flight season schedule on October 25. This season, the airport has been approved for 7,688 weekly flight slots, with an overall pattern of “minor domestic adjustments, international growth and cargo expansion.” The average daily schedule will include about 1,098 aircraft movements, and a total of 47 airlines will operate flights at Kunming Airport, with a marked dual-peak operation pattern of morning departures and evening arrivals.

Site of the matchmaking meeting. Photo by correspondent Peng Hong

Domestic routes

This flight season, nine new direct destinations will be added: Baishan, Xinyang, Bengbu, Xingtai, Aksu, Bozhou, Wugang, Ankang and Qamdo, while two destinations, Foshan and Qionghai, will be resumed, further closing gaps in direct flight connectivity to Kunming. Capacity on key routes will continue to be optimized. For Xinjiang, a new Kunming–Xi’an–Aksu route will be opened, and flights on the Kunming–Urumqi route will be increased to four daily. For Tibet, a new Kunming–Qamdo–Lhasa route will be opened, and flights on the Kunming–Lhasa route will be increased to 4.5 daily. For Northeast China, a new Kunming–Baishan–Dalian route will be added. Express services to major domestic cities such as Zhengzhou, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Xi'an and Wuhan will run at high frequency to meet business and leisure travel demand. For intra-provincial routes, flights to Mangshi, Diqing and other destinations will increase.

International routes

This flight season, weekly international flight slots (excluding regional routes) will reach 734 aircraft movements, and international capacity will expand further. China Eastern Airlines Yunnan Co., Ltd. will focus on increasing frequencies on routes to popular Southeast Asian cities such as Singapore, Vientiane, Malé, Yangon, Mandalay, Siem Reap, Bangkok, Phuket, Chiang Mai and Ho Chi Minh City; Sunan Ruili Airlines Co., Ltd. will increase frequencies on the Kunming–Chiang Mai route; Yunnan Lucky Air Co., Ltd. will add a Kunming–Daegu route; Thai VietJet Air plans to launch a Kunming–Bangkok passenger route; and some foreign airlines will continue to increase frequencies on routes to Kuala Lumpur and Hanoi during the season.

Click here to view the Chinese report

(Editors: Jennifer, Flynn)