Chinggis Khan International Airport.
PERTH, Australia—Ulaanbaatar's Chinggis Khaan International Airport (UBN) is seeking to expand its international connectivity, especially to the Middle East and Central Asia.
Mongolia's primary international gateway has also begun talks with the government for potential infrastructure upgrades as it nears its capacity limits.
Geser Ganbaatar, UBN’s corporate strategy and planning division manager, says the airport hopes to expand service to the United Arab Emirates and Kazakhstan, as well as build on traditionally strong—but seasonal—destinations such as Thailand, which sees strong outbound travel from Mongolia, especially during the northern winter.
UBN handled 2.18 million passengers in 2024, of which 1.7 million were international. The airport's top markets were from Seoul with 638,000 passengers, followed by Beijing with 240,000 and Istanbul with 147,000.
Despite its proximity to Russia, Ganbaatar says UBN was not overly exposed to the closure of Russian airspace and the shortfall that arose has been more than filled by the rise in South Korean and Chinese passengers. However, Mongolia has seen a significant drop in overflight numbers and relevant fees as a result of the airspace being closed to Western airlines.
UBN is targeting a passenger throughput of 2.4 million in 2025, which will surpass the airport’s designed capacity of 2.3 million annually.
The airport has a single 37,000-m2 terminal with 17 aircraft parking spots. Ganbaatar says infrastructure upgrade discussions could involve additional floor space and aircraft stands.
Related Content
