The airport is located in Xinzheng, 37 kilometres (23 mi) southeast of downtown Zhengzhou.

However, the airport, which had a 2,400 meter long and 45 meter wide runway, capable of handling airliners as large as a Boeing 767, was too close to the city center, worsening the air and noise pollution, especially from jet-powered planes like the Trident and Boeing 737.

Development of many buildings in the area worsened the dire situation, thus risking aircraft-related accidents.

Dongjiao Airport was later demolished to build the Zhengdong New Area CBD on its site.

[8] In 2013, the state council approved the expansion project of the airport, including a new terminal (Terminal 2), the second runway (Runway 12L/30R) and a ground traffic center (GTC), in alignment with its first airport-based economy zone (Zhengzhou Airport Economy Zone).

[4] Long-haul and intercontinental passenger services from the airport also began to emerge in recent years.

In late 2015 Emirates announced it would begin service from Dubai to Zhengzhou via Yinchuan from May 2016, as part of the airline's expansion plans in China.

It covers an area of 128,000 square metres (1,380,000 sq ft) and has 14 gates with jet bridges.

After the opening of Terminal 2, it was closed as a future reserve and temporarily transformed into an exhibition hall.

Terminal 2 has an X-shaped layout with four piers seeing from above, which resembles and implies "opened arms to embrace the world".

[22] The control tower is 93.5 m (307 ft) in height and its shape resembles the Jiahu Gudi (bone flute) discovered in Henan.

The airport also offers inter-city coach services to and from other cities in the central plain region, including Luoyang, Kaifeng, Xuchang, Xinxiang, Nanyang, Anyang, Jiaozuo, Pingdingshan, Shangqiu, Zhoukou, Zhumadian, Heze, Changzhi, and Jincheng.