I fly into and out of Xining Airport once a year to visit the in-laws. It’s a relatively small airport with a few restaurants and shops at arrivals on the first floor and departures on the second floor.
Arrivals is straight forward and efficient and I have no complaints here.
For departures though, let's start with checking in.
The queuing for the check-in counter is not based on the "snake system" (first-in first-out) that many airports adopt but queue per counter.
This means that you could end up in a queue that moves very slowly compared to the other queues if the person in front has check-in issues so can be frustrating. There is however a special check in desk for late check-ins.
For issuing international transit tickets, the check-in staff always have difficulties, at least for me.
For me, they needed to issue a Xining to Beijing and then onward Beijing to Dubai ticket with checked in luggage to transit all the way through.
Every year without exception, the staff do not know how to do it and have to call in a supervisor who barely manages to issue it after some trial and error or in worst case, they only issue the Xining to Beijing ticket and tell me to check-in at Beijing Airport for the PEK-DXB leg. Granted, it’s a regional airport mostly handling domestic travellers, but they really need to improve the staff training on this. I must say though, the staff do try their very best and are polite about it.
Security screening is standard/efficient and inside the departure terminal, while busy has plenty of seating, few gift shops and restaurants.
There’s a business class lounge on the third floor which you can access with Lounge Key; nothing special but it’s quiet (I was there between 1000 to 1230 on Monday) and has comfortable seating, basic food/beverage and especially good if your flight out is delayed for...
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