# Ürümqi Tianshan International Airport (URC)

> Ürümqi, CN · IATA: URC · ICAO: ZWWW · Large Airport · Cargo Hub

## Quick Facts

| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| IATA | `URC` |
| ICAO | `ZWWW` |
| City | Ürümqi |
| Country | CN |
| Type | Large Airport |
| Elevation | 648 m |
| Cargo | ✅ |
| GPS | 43.90710, 87.47420 |

## Description

Cargo throughput at Ürümqi Tianshan International Airport (URC/ZWWW) reached 331,790 tonnes in 2025, a rise of 40.6 percent that made it one of the fastest-growing freight airports in the world. Design capacity is stated at up to 550,000 tonnes of cargo and mail per year, leaving substantial headroom for further expansion. The growth is driven by genuine freighter operations rather than belly capacity alone: CMA CGM Air Cargo launched A330F services to Paris and Madrid on 27 July 2025, Ethiopian Cargo opened a freighter link to Addis Ababa on 27 June, and a cargo route to Zurich began on 11 May. Between June 2024 and May 2025 the leading outbound markets were Tashkent at around 12,000 tonnes, Tbilisi at 11,000 tonnes and Istanbul at 7,000 tonnes, reflecting the airport's role as a bridge into Central Asia and the Caucasus. Xinjiang's land ports at Khorgos and Alashankou tie the airport into the China-Europe rail corridors, so air-rail combinations are a practical option for shippers balancing cost against transit time. Customs and export formalities run through the region's free trade and special economic zones, and depending on the destination market, shipments with a Xinjiang origin may face additional supply chain documentation requirements. Alternative gateways include Kashgar (KHG) for regional traffic and Almaty (ALA), Xi'an (XIY) or Zhengzhou (CGO) for larger freighter volumes. E-commerce consignments bound for Central Asia currently find some of the quickest-expanding capacity in the region here.

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*Freight Academy — Airport Profile: [https://www.freight-academy.com/en/information/airports/ueruemqi-tianshan-international-airport-urc](https://www.freight-academy.com/en/information/airports/ueruemqi-tianshan-international-airport-urc)*

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*LLM-Summary (JSON): https://www.freight-academy.com/api/v1/airports/ueruemqi-tianshan-international-airport-urc/llm-summary*