Haikou Meilan International Airport — Haikou (Meilan), China

As the gateway to Hainan, China's tropical island province, HAK has grown rapidly alongside Beijing's push to turn the island into a free-trade port with generous duty-free shopping allowances for domestic travelers. Haikou itself, the provincial capital, sits on Hainan's northern coast facing the mainland across the Qiongzhou Strait, and the airport's expanding terminal complex mirrors the city's ambitions to become a year-round tropical leisure and shopping destination rivaling resort islands elsewhere in Asia. Hainan Airlines, once part of the sprawling HNA conglomerate headquartered in the province, built much of its early network around routes radiating from this airfield. Beyond leisure travel, the airport also handles a meaningful share of business traffic tied to Hainan's petrochemical and tourism-development sectors. Direct international links to Southeast Asia have expanded as the free-trade port policy has matured, distinguishing HAK from many other Chinese regional hubs.