The Newest Airports in the World, Ranked by Opening Date (2026)

The newest airport in the world is Ilulissat International in Greenland, which opened on October 29, 2026. It beat Western Sydney International, the new second airport for Australia’s largest city, by four days.

This list ranks the 10 newest airports by the date of their first scheduled passenger flight, as of November 2026. That is the date a paying passenger could actually fly, which is often months after the ribbon-cutting.

Three of the 10 are in India and three are in Greenland. The next two, in Vietnam and China, are both scheduled for the same day: December 24, 2026.

1. Ilulissat International Airport, Greenland (Oct. 29, 2026)

Ilulissat, Greenland’s third-largest town, opened its new international airport on October 29, 2026. Air Greenland launched a direct route to Copenhagen the same day.

The new runway is 7,200 feet (2,200 m), nearly three times the length of the old landing strip, and the terminal covers about 54,000 square feet. That is long enough for jets to fly straight in from Europe instead of connecting through a hub.

It completes Greenland’s three-airport program, after Nuuk in November 2024 and Qaqortoq in April 2026. Jettime is due to take over the Copenhagen route from November with a Boeing 737-800.

2. Western Sydney International (Nancy-Bird Walton) Airport, Australia (Oct. 25, 2026)

Western Sydney International took its first passengers on October 25, 2026, when Jetstar flight JQ362, an Airbus A320, left for the Gold Coast at 11 a.m. Freight flights had started three months earlier, on July 26.

It sits about 27 miles (44 km) west of the Sydney central business district, with one 12,139-foot (3,700 m) runway and room for up to 10 million passengers a year. It is curfew-free, built to run 24 hours a day.

Air New Zealand flew the first international service, from Auckland, on October 26. Singapore Airlines is scheduled to start daily Changi flights on November 23, 2026, and Qantas follows on March 28, 2027.

3. Visakhapatnam Bhogapuram International Airport, India (Aug. 17, 2026)

Officially Alluri Sitarama Raju International Airport, the new Visakhapatnam airport was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 1, 2026. Commercial flights started 16 days later, on August 17.

GMR Group built it about 28 miles (45 km) from the city, with a single 12,500-foot (3,800 m) runway. The first phase cost ₹45.92 billion (about $490 million) and is designed for 6.3 million passengers a year.

It took over the city’s scheduled flights and its IATA code, VTZ, from the old Visakhapatnam Airport. Same code, entirely different airport.

4. Noida International Airport, India (June 15, 2026)

Noida International, at Jewar near Delhi, opened to passengers on June 15, 2026, when IndiGo flight 6E-2278 landed from Lucknow. Modi had inaugurated the first phase on March 28, 11 weeks earlier.

Phase one has a 12,795-foot (3,900 m) runway and a terminal for 12 million passengers a year. It is run by a subsidiary of Zurich Airport, and the full plan grows to 70 million passengers.

Noida’s opening date slipped repeatedly, which is why so many travel guides still list it as “coming soon.” It is open, and it now serves the Delhi region alongside Indira Gandhi International.

5. Qaqortoq Airport, Greenland (Apr. 16, 2026)

Qaqortoq Airport opened on April 16, 2026, and is the one of Greenland’s three new airports that replaced a heliport rather than an old runway. It took over from the town’s heliport, and Narsarsuaq Airport was downgraded to a heliport at the same time.

Its runway is just 4,921 feet (1,500 m), which planners judged the shortest that would work. All fixed-wing flights and regional helicopter services for the region now run from there.

6. Navi Mumbai International Airport, India (Dec. 25, 2025)

Navi Mumbai opened on Christmas Day 2025, when IndiGo flight 6E460 from Bengaluru touched down at 8 a.m. Fifteen departures by four airlines, IndiGo, Air India Express, Akasa Air and Star Air, followed that day.

It is the biggest airport on this list by opening capacity: 20 million passengers a year from one terminal and one 12,100-foot (3,700 m) runway. The Adani-led operator plans 90 million passengers a year at full build-out.

Prime Minister Modi inaugurated it on October 8, 2025, more than two months before the first flight. The terminal’s lotus-shaped design will be completed as three linked terminals are built in phases.

7. Techo International Airport, Cambodia (Sept. 9, 2025)

Techo International replaced Phnom Penh International as the Cambodian capital’s main airport on September 9, 2025. Air Cambodia landed first, from China, with Singapore Airlines close behind.

Foster and Partners designed it, and the first phase handles 13 million passengers a year on a 13,123-foot (4,000 m) concrete runway. The grand inauguration came six weeks after the first flight, on October 20, 2025.

8. Nuuk Airport, Greenland (Nov. 28, 2024)

Nuuk is the edge case on this list: same site, new airport. On November 28, 2024, Greenland’s capital switched from a 3,117-foot (950 m) runway to a rebuilt 7,200-foot (2,200 m) one, with a new terminal that had opened that summer.

The longer runway opened Greenland’s capital to direct jet service from much farther away. United Airlines announced twice-weekly flights from Newark starting June 14, 2025.

9. Felipe Carrillo Puerto International Airport, Tulum, Mexico (Dec. 1, 2023)

Tulum’s new airport began commercial operations on December 1, 2023, with domestic flights from Aeromexico Connect and Viva Aerobus. It is run by the Mexican military, an unusual arrangement for a resort airport.

It has a 12,000-foot runway and 12 gates, with a target of more than five million passengers a year. American, Delta, Spirit and United all announced plans to serve it.

10. Siem Reap-Angkor International Airport, Cambodia (Oct. 16, 2023)

Siem Reap-Angkor International opened on October 16, 2023, about 25 miles (40 km) east of Angkor Wat. It replaced the old Siem Reap airport, which could not handle the traffic and whose pollution was damaging the temples.

The $1.1 billion airport was built by Yunnan Investment Holdings, with an 11,827-foot (3,605 m) runway and room for 7 million passengers a year in its first phase. Together with Techo, it means Cambodia replaced both of its main airports in under two years.

What is the newest airport in the United States?

The US has not opened a major new airport on this list’s terms in more than 15 years. The most recent airline airport built on a new site is Northwest Florida Beaches International (ECP), which opened on May 23, 2010, and replaced the old Panama City-Bay County airport.

ECP has a 10,000-foot runway and was the first international airport designed and built in the US since the September 11 attacks. Despite the name, it has never had a scheduled international flight.

The newest US airline service is in Texas. McKinney National Airport, a corporate airfield since 1979, opened a four-gate terminal and saw its first commercial flight, Avelo Airlines 1848 to Fort Myers, on November 11, 2026.

That makes McKinney North Texas’s third commercial airport, but it is an old airfield adding airlines, not a new airport. For the other end of the timeline, see our list of the oldest airports in the world.

New airports opening next

Two airports are scheduled to open on the same day, December 24, 2026, and either would take the top spot on this list. Both dates have slipped before, so treat them as targets until the first flight lands.

Long Thanh International, Vietnam. About 25 miles (40 km) east of Ho Chi Minh City, its first phase has a 13,123-foot (4,000 m) runway and room for 25 million passengers a year. The full project is estimated at $18.7 billion, Vietnam’s most expensive infrastructure project.

Xiamen Xiang’an International, China. Built on Dadeng Island, it is designed for 45 million passengers a year in its first phase and will replace Xiamen Gaoqi as the city’s main airport. Total investment is about 53.7 billion yuan (roughly $7.8 billion).

Chinchero International, Peru. The new gateway for Cusco and Machu Picchu has slipped from 2021 to 2025, then September 2026, and is now planned for late 2027 to early 2028. It will open with capacity for five million passengers a year.

New Manila International, Philippines. San Miguel Corp. is building it in Bulacan, north of Manila, and its chairman targets the first runway for the end of 2028. One runway is meant to handle 35 million passengers a year.

Several of these will soon be among the world’s largest. Our ranking of the biggest airports in the world shows how far they have to grow, and our list of abandoned airports shows what can happen to the fields they replace.