Haikou Meilan Airport International Transit Area in China Expanded and Put into Operation, with 4 New Security Check Channels

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On September 10, the expanded and renovated international transit area of Haikou Meilan International Airport, under Hainan Holdings, was officially put into operation. The renovation redefined the processing areas for two types of passengers: international-to-international transfers via Haikou and international-to-domestic transfers via Haikou, and added 4 security check channels and 438 square meters of security check and waiting area on the first floor of Terminal 2. After the renovation, the peak-hour handling capacity for international-to-domestic transfer passengers via Haikou can reach 480 person-times.

International-to-international passengers who have completed through check-in uniformly enter the international transit dedicated area on the second floor of T2 to handle transit procedures; international-to-domestic through passengers transfer to the international arrivals hall on the first floor of T2 for processing. The new spatial organization separates the passenger flows of the two types, and the newly added security check area on the first floor of T2 is specifically designed to handle the subsequent security check needs of international-to-domestic passengers.

This expansion was implemented on the basis of Meilan Airport's existing international transit facilities. In August, the airport had already launched a 24-hour direct transit express channel for international transfers exempting border inspection procedures, which integrates automatic document identification, boarding pass scanning, and facial recognition functions. Eligible passengers holding international connecting tickets within 24 hours and proceeding directly to a third country or region without leaving the airport can complete data collection and verification through the express channel, while the airport retains manual inspection channels.

Before the express channel was put into use, Meilan Airport used a temporary international transit inspection system combined with manual verification. Starting from November 5, 2025, Haikou Meilan Airport was included in the scope of ports eligible for 24-hour direct transit without going through entry-exit border inspection procedures, providing new passenger processing conditions for the subsequent renovation of international transit facilities.

Meilan Airport has also carried out international cross-terminal through transit on the "Beijing Daxing—Haikou—Auckland" route, and jointly with border inspection and customs authorities launched the "Qiong-Gang Tong" cross-airline transit service, providing baggage exemption and connection for eligible transit passengers originating from Hong Kong. Since 2026, the number of international and regional transit passengers provided with dining discounts, accommodation, and other transit services by the airport has exceeded 100,000.

International and regional passenger traffic has increased simultaneously. Meilan Airport's international and regional passenger throughput in 2026 exceeded 1 million person-times on August 3, 45 days earlier than when the same scale was reached in 2025; as of August 17, through check-in services have covered destinations including Hong Kong, China, Macao, China, Auckland, Abu Dhabi, Bangkok, Jakarta, Dubai, Seoul, Kuala Lumpur, and Melbourne.

After this operation, Meilan Airport's international transit facilities have formed two main passenger processing areas: international-to-international on the second floor of T2 and international-to-domestic on the first floor of T2, among which the 4 new security check channels handle centralized security checks for international-to-domestic through passengers, with a designed peak-hour handling capacity of 480 person-times.