Origin Ulaanbaatar's former main airport,
Buyant-Ukhaa International Airport, established in 1957, is located in close proximity to two mountains to its south and east, so only one end of its runway was able to be used, and was often adversely affected by weather events. with cargo capacity set at 11,900 tons. Its development was majority funded by a Japanese government (
JICA) soft loan (93%), with the rest provided by the Mongolian government.
Development Initial planning for the airport was done in 2006 with Japanese government assistance. with initial construction starting with a site flood-protection scheme. Other works under way included the construction of the electric power line from
Nalaikh. Main construction lasted from May 2013 to April 2020. The concrete pouring work for the control tower started on 13 September 2013. On 29 January 2014, the airport's electric substation construction was completed and connected to the Mongolian central grid. Construction of a six-lane, 30 km-long highway to
Ulaanbaatar started in May 2016, and ended in 2019. While the initial opening date was slated for December 2016, the bulk of construction only ended in 2017. Opening of the airport was repeatedly delayed to 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021. These delays were related to contract negotiations regarding the operation and ownership of the airport, the construction of the highway to Ulaanbaatar, and the impact of the
COVID-19 pandemic in Mongolia. Operations at the airport started on 4 July 2021, with an inaugural flight to
Tokyo operated by
MIAT Mongolian Airlines, flying Ulaanbaatar-
Narita-Ulaanbaatar with a
Boeing 737. The airport was referred to by various names during its planning and construction phases, including
New Ulaanbaatar International Airport and
Khöshig (or Khöshigt) Valley Airport. The new airport was given its current name on 2 July 2020, with the former
Chinggis Khaan International Airport reverting to its pre-2005 name of
Buyant-Ukhaa International Airport.
Chinggis Khaan is a transliteration of the
modern Mongolian pronunciation of
Genghis Khan. In July 2024,
Nippon Koei was contracted to perform an assessment regarding the expansion of the airport. In May 2025,
United Airlines began
fifth-freedom flights to Tokyo on a
Boeing 737-800 3x weekly. == Facilities ==