Tashikuergan Hongqilafu Airport — Tashikuergan, China

HQL denotes Tashikuergan Hongqilafu Airport, a remote high-altitude airport in Xinjiang, China, near the borders with Pakistan, Tajikistan, and Afghanistan along the historic Karakoram corridor. Built to serve the Tashkurgan Tajik Autonomous County, this airport supports a strategically and geographically isolated region home to Tajik and other minority communities in the Pamir Mountains. HQL primarily handles domestic flights linking this frontier area to Kashgar and other Xinjiang cities, reducing what was previously a long overland journey through mountainous terrain. The airport reflects China's broader push to improve connectivity to its remote western border regions along ancient Silk Road routes.