Luoyang Beijiao Airport (LYA) 2026 Guide

This guide is written by an editorial team based in Chongqing — the editor has lived in mainland China since 2018 but is not a Luoyang resident and has not been on the ground in Luoyang in 2026. Routes, distances and timings draw on aggregated 2024-2026 r/travelchina and r/chinatravel threads, Trip.com and airline listings, and 2026-05-23 Amap (高德地图) data. This is Path-2 editorial-aggregated coverage — confirm fares, shuttle schedules and airline assignments on the day you travel, and corrections from Luoyang residents are welcomed (see the about page).

LYA: what Luoyang Beijiao Airport is (and is not)

Luoyang Beijiao International Airport (洛阳北郊机场, IATA LYA, ICAO ZHLY) sits in the 老城区 (Old City district) about 10 km north of central Luoyang, in Henan Province. It is a small, single-terminal airport with approximately 1-2 million annual passengers — a fraction of the traffic handled by the major Henan hub, Zhengzhou Xinzheng Airport (CGO).

LYA is a dual-use civil-and-military airport. That status means it cannot expand as freely as a dedicated civil airport, and it caps the number of aircraft movements per day. For travellers, this translates to a small route map, limited daily frequencies, and no international scheduled service.

The terminal itself is compact and functional. A single arrivals/departures building serves all flights — no inter-terminal complexity, no long transit walks. You will reach the taxi rank within five minutes of exiting arrivals. But simplicity at the airport does not solve the underlying issue: for most foreign visitors to Luoyang, LYA is the wrong airport to fly into. The routing decision section and the Zhengzhou option explain why.

LYA domestic route map

LYA serves a handful of domestic city-pairs, primarily the tourism markets that generate visitor traffic to Luoyang (Longmen Grottoes, Shaolin Temple, the Peony Festival). As of 2025-2026 the main routes are:

• Beijing Daxing (PKX) — roughly 1.5-2 hours; operated by carriers including Air China and budget airlines. Note that PKX (not the older PEK) is the more common Luoyang connection now.
• Shanghai (PVG / SHA) — roughly 1.5-2 hours; useful for travellers combining Luoyang with a Shanghai leg.
• Guangzhou (CAN) — roughly 2 hours; southern China connectivity.
• Chongqing (CKG) and Chengdu (CTU / TFU) — roughly 1-1.5 hours; useful for Sichuan-plus-Henan itineraries.
• Shenzhen (SZX) and Kunming (KMG) — available seasonally; schedules vary. Check current routes on Trip.com before booking.
• Regional domestic routes — Nanjing, Hangzhou, Xi'an and others appear intermittently, but with low frequency.

International flights at LYA: none scheduled. There is no scheduled international service from LYA as of 2026. Historical charter flights (packaged tour groups from certain markets) have used LYA in the past, but these are not regular scheduled services available to independent foreign travellers.

Search domestic flights to Luoyang (LYA) on Trip.com →

Getting from LYA to Luoyang city

If you do fly into LYA, the ground transfer to the city is straightforward. Central Luoyang is ~10 km south; Luoyang Longmen Station (the HSR hub, which most travellers care about) is about 15 km southeast.

Distances and times based on 2026-05-23 Amap (高德地图) routing. Fares are estimates — confirm with the driver or app before boarding.

Bus 83 / Airport Express

Bus 83, also promoted as the Airport Express route, departs from outside the arrivals exit and heads south to Luoyang Station (洛阳站) — the central city railway station. The journey is approximately 40-50 minutes and costs around ¥5 per person. It is the lowest-cost option and fine for travellers without heavy luggage or a tight schedule. The bus does not serve Luoyang Longmen Station (the HSR hub) directly — take a taxi or DiDi for that.

Pay with Alipay QR code, WeChat Pay, or exact cash. The bus schedule is tied to major flight arrivals; confirm the timetable at the airport information desk on the day.

Taxi (metered)

An official taxi rank operates immediately outside the arrivals exit at LYA. The metered fare to central Luoyang is approximately ¥40-60, taking around 25 minutes. The meter will be turned on automatically for official taxis — if a driver does not turn it on, request it before setting off or exit the vehicle. Ignore touts inside the terminal; official taxis are the only safe ground option.

DiDi

DiDi works in Luoyang. Open the DiDi app or the DiDi mini-program inside Alipay in the arrivals hall, set your destination (Luoyang Longmen Station, your hotel address, or Luoyang Station), and walk to the designated ride-hailing pickup zone. The upfront fare estimate avoids negotiation. A foreign Visa or Mastercard linked to Alipay covers the fare.

The Zhengzhou Xinzheng route (CGO + HSR)

For the majority of foreign travellers, Zhengzhou Xinzheng International Airport (郑州新郑国际机场, IATA CGO) is the right entry point for Luoyang. Here is why.

International connectivity at CGO

CGO is Henan Province's primary international hub. Unlike LYA, it offers direct non-stop service from:

• Europe — Frankfurt, London Heathrow, Helsinki (Finnair), Rome and other routes (frequency and availability vary by season; check current schedules for 2026 as new routes open).
• Korea — Seoul Incheon and Busan; strong year-round frequency via Korean Air and Asiana.
• Southeast Asia — Bangkok Suvarnabhumi, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore (frequency varies by season and carrier).
• Australia — Sydney (seasonal); Hainan Airlines has operated this route.
• Full domestic network — CGO connects to all major Chinese cities at higher frequency and lower fares than LYA.

CGO to Luoyang: the transfer

The transfer from CGO to Luoyang is fast and well-practised:

1. CGO Airport Express metro (Line 2) — departs from below the terminal and runs directly to Zhengzhou East Railway Station (郑州东站). The journey takes approximately 30-40 minutes. Fare: around ¥20-25. The metro runs from early morning to late evening.
2. HSR: Zhengzhou East → Luoyang Longmen — the 徐兰 high-speed railway (Xuzhou–Lanzhou line) runs west from Zhengzhou East and stops at Luoyang Longmen Station (洛阳龙门站)in approximately 30 minutes. Trains run multiple times per hour throughout the day; ticket prices are typically ¥25-50 for the G-train (high-speed). You must book with your passport name and carry the document for identity checks.
3. Luoyang Longmen → city / sights — Luoyang Longmen Station is about 9 km south of the city centre, adjacent to the Longmen Grottoes scenic area. A taxi or DiDi to the central city is about 20 minutes; a taxi directly to the Longmen Grottoes entrance is under 5 minutes.

Total door-to-door from CGO arrivals gate to a Luoyang city-centre hotel is comfortably under 2 hours including waiting time.

Book the Zhengzhou East → Luoyang Longmen HSR on Trip.com →

The Xi'an Xianyang route (XIY + HSR)

Xi'an Xianyang International Airport (XIY) is the second main routing option for Luoyang — not because it is close (it is ~370 km west, roughly 3.5 hours door-to-door), but because of two factors:

• Strong international and Asian hub connectivity. XIY offers non-stop or one-stop service from most major Asian cities and multiple European hubs. Flight availability is broader than CGO for many origin-country combinations — particularly from Japan, Hong Kong, Southeast Asia and the Middle East.
• The Xi'an + Luoyang combination itinerary. Xi'an (the Terracotta Army, the city wall, the Muslim Quarter) and Luoyang (Longmen Grottoes, Shaolin Temple nearby) are both ancient capitals on the same 徐兰 HSR line. Flying into XIY, spending 2-3 days in Xi'an, then riding the HSR east to Luoyang is one of the most logical ancient-capitals itineraries in China — and a pattern used by a high proportion of foreign visitors who come specifically for China's dynastic heritage sites.

XIY to Luoyang: the transfer

1. XIY → Xi'an North Station (西安北站) — the Subway Line 14 (机场线) connects XIY directly to Xi'an North Railway Station in approximately 35 minutes. Fare: ¥30-35.
2. Xi'an North → Luoyang Longmen by G-train — the same 徐兰 HSR line runs east from Xi'an North through the Wei River valley and into Luoyang Longmen. Journey time is approximately 1 hour 25 minutes on the G-train. Trains run multiple times per day; book with your passport on Trip.com.

If you are arriving into XIY the same day you want to be in Luoyang, the full transfer takes about 2.5-3 hours including the metro leg and waiting time. More commonly, travellers stay in Xi'an for 1-3 days and take the train to Luoyang as part of the itinerary.

See the Xi'an Xianyang Airport (XIY) guide for full terminal details and the ground transfer from XIY to the city.

Book the Xi'an North → Luoyang Longmen HSR on Trip.com →

Which airport? Decision matrix

The table below compares all four realistic routing options for reaching Luoyang as a foreign traveller:

Times are estimates based on Amap routing (2026-05-23) plus published HSR schedules. Door-to-door figures include airport exit, transit, and a reasonable wait at the railway station. Confirm current schedules on Trip.com before booking.

The honest short answer

Unless you have a direct domestic flight from a city that connects well to LYA (e.g. Beijing Daxing, Shanghai, Guangzhou) and you are only going to Luoyang with no other stops, fly into Zhengzhou (CGO). The 30-minute HSR hop to Luoyang Longmen is one of the cleanest airport-to-destination transfers in China, and CGO's international route network is vastly wider than LYA's.

If your trip includes Xi'an, fly into Xi'an (XIY) and ride the HSR east. The two cities share a direct high-speed line; the ancient-capitals combination is the natural backbone of many Henan + Shaanxi itineraries.

Hotels near LYA — and the honest case for the city instead

LYA is only 10 km from central Luoyang — roughly 25 minutes by taxi. Unlike a major hub airport 30-50 km out of town, the airport itself is not in a remote location that makes an “airport hotel” a meaningful category. For most travellers, staying near the airport adds no practical advantage and removes you from the restaurants, sites and transport connections of the city.

The two most useful base areas for a Luoyang stay are:

• Central Luoyang / Luoyang Station area — widest restaurant and hotel selection, close to the Sui-Tang ruins area (洛邑 古城), Guanlin Temple, and the long-distance bus station. A reasonable base if you are also doing a Shaolin Temple day trip.
• Luoyang Longmen Station area — walking distance or a short taxi to the Longmen Grottoes; useful if Longmen is your first or last stop and you are leaving by HSR. Fewer restaurant options than the central city.

The where to stay in Luoyang guide compares both areas (and the Old Town option near Luoyi Ancient City) in detail with Amap-verified walk and transit times.

Browse Luoyang city-centre hotels on Trip.com →

Browse hotels near Luoyang Longmen Station on Trip.com →

Arrival practicalities

Passport and real-name boarding

All domestic flights in China require real-name boarding. Your passport must match the name on your ticket exactly — you will show it at check-in and at the gate security point. When buying tickets on Trip.com or any Chinese platform, enter your passport name exactly as it appears on the document. This applies to both LYA and the HSR tickets from CGO or XIY.

Paying with Alipay / WeChat Pay

QR-code payment is accepted at virtually all food, retail and service counters inside the LYA terminal. A foreign Visa or Mastercard linked to Alipay works for payments at the airport and for taxi and DiDi fares. Set this up before you fly — the setup takes 5-10 minutes with a working foreign card and a Chinese phone number or mainland SIM. The connectivity hub explains the eSIM-plus-roaming setup that keeps your foreign number alive for OTP codes while giving you cheap data in China.

Airport facilities at LYA

LYA is a compact single-terminal airport. Expect standard domestic-terminal basics — a food court, a few retail shops, a small pharmacy — but not the full-service restaurant options or extensive duty-free retail of a hub airport. Currency exchange is available at the terminal, but rates are typically worse than at a city bank. Change only enough for immediate needs and use Alipay for the rest.

There is no hotel inside or directly connected to the terminal. If you need accommodation near the airport for a very early morning departure, budget hotels exist in the 老城区 nearby, but as noted above, the city-centre location is almost always the better base.

240-hour transit via Luoyang

The 240-hour visa-free transit (144H) policy covers Henan Province, and Luoyang is within the eligible area — so you can spend your 240H window visiting Luoyang. However, the designated entry/exit port for the Henan 240H is Zhengzhou Xinzheng Airport (CGO), not LYA. You must arrive and depart at CGO; visiting Luoyang is part of the in-province travel during that window. See the full 240-hour transit guide for country eligibility lists and the precise port rules.

Frequently asked questions

Related Luoyang guides

• Luoyang railway stations guide — Luoyang Longmen (HSR hub), Luoyang Station (central), and Luoyang East; the Xi'an, Zhengzhou and Beijing HSR connections in detail.
• Where to stay in Luoyang — 4-area comparison (Old Town / Longmen / Central / Peony district) with Amap-verified walk and transit times.
• 240-hour visa-free transit guide — country eligibility, eligible ports (CGO for Henan), and how to plan a Luoyang visit inside the 240H window.
• Beijing to Xi'an by train — the rail context for the 徐兰 HSR line that connects Xi'an, Luoyang and Zhengzhou in one corridor.

Browse all Luoyang hotels and flights on Trip.com →

Verification scope

Amap-verified 2026-05-23: airport coordinates (34.7397 N, 112.3940 E; GCJ-02), road distance from LYA to central Luoyang (~10 km), estimated road travel times from Amap (高德地图) routing, and approximate distance from Zhengzhou CGO to Luoyang (~120 km) and Xi'an XIY to Luoyang (~370 km).

Not verified first-hand for this editor: the editorial team is based in Chongqing, not Luoyang, and has not been on the ground at LYA in 2026. Terminal layout, shuttle timetables, taxi-meter fares, current airline schedules and the CGO metro connection timing are not first-hand. Confirm these on the day you travel.

Sources: editorial team based in Chongqing (8-year mainland-China resident, NOT a Luoyang resident), editor's about page, Amap (高德地图) routing queried 2026-05-23, Trip.com flight/hotel listings, published HSR timetables, and aggregated r/travelchina and r/chinatravel threads 2024-2026.