Passenger traffic at Qingdao Jiaodong International Airport, the only 4F-level international airport in Shandong province, surpassed 10 million flights for 2026 on Wednesday, reaching 10.01 million arrivals and departures, up 4.5 percent year-on-year, the airport said.

The milestone was achieved six days earlier than last year, reflecting growing travel demand and improving connectivity.

The airport handled an average of 502 inbound and outbound flights and 72,000 passenger trips daily during the period. International and regional passenger throughput climbed to 1.4 million, marking a 20 percent increase compared with the same period last year, according to the airport.

Qingdao airport currently operates 159 domestic routes. Flight frequencies to key hub airports — including Shanghai, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Harbin — have all remained above 10 flights per day on average.

On international and regional services, the airport has leveraged its geographic position to expand overseas connectivity, operating 27 international and regional routes. Traffic to Southeast Asian destinations recorded particularly strong growth, with flight volumes and passenger numbers surging 175 percent and 126 percent year-on-year, respectively.

According to the Qingdao airport border inspection station under the general station of frontier inspection of Shandong province, the airport has processed more than 260,000 inbound foreign travelers so far this year, an increase of 51 percent from a year earlier.