Aviation: Yantai became the first city in Shandong Province to possess fifth freedom rights in 2011. Yantai Penglai International Airport is a national first-class air port. Currently, Yantai Penglai International Airport operates 37 airlines, has 21 aircraft parked overnight, and operates 170 routes, connecting 78 domestic cities and 16 international and Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan cities. It has formed a route network layout "facing Japan and South Korea, connecting the north and south, linking the northwest, and radiating to the southwest." In 2019, Yantai Penglai International Airport's annual passenger throughput reached 10.055 million, becoming the 39th airport in China to handle over 10 million passengers. It aims to become a regional aviation hub gateway to Northeast Asia and build an international air logistics distribution platform "facing Northeast Asia, connecting Southeast Asia, and linking Europe and America." The first phase of the T2 terminal building at Yantai Penglai International Airport has been completed and is awaiting acceptance. This includes a newly built 172,000-square-meter T2 terminal building, 33 aircraft stands, the main supporting urban rail transit project, and other related supporting projects. It is scheduled to be put into operation in 2024.
Water Transport: Yantai Port is one of the 15 key ports prioritized for development under the Belt and Road Initiative. It serves as a major international shipping and logistics hub in Northeast Asia and a crucial strategic resource reserve and distribution center for energy, minerals, and other commodities in Northern China. Yantai Port is one of the two important wings of Shandong's port network, ranking eighth nationally in throughput. It is China's leading importer of bauxite and the world's largest port for bauxite imports, accounting for three-quarters of the national total. In terms of crude oil, it collaborates with Qingdao and Rizhao ports, accounting for one-third of the national import volume. As of 2022, all eight port areas of Yantai Port were designated as national first-class open ports, with direct shipping routes to over 100 ports in more than 70 countries and regions.
In 2024, the cargo throughput of Yantai's coastal ports reached 501.9924 million tons, a 3.6% increase year-on-year, of which foreign trade cargo throughput was 173.6416 million tons, a 4.2% increase. The port's container throughput reached 5.091 million TEUs, a 10.0% increase. At the end of the year, the city's ports had 243 operational berths, including 126 berths capable of handling vessels of 10,000 tons or more.
Railways: As of the end of 2020, the Yantai Railway Section managed four lines: the Lanyan Railway, the Qingdao-Yantai-Weihai-Rongcheng (Qingrong) Intercity Railway, the Longyan Railway, and the Weilai Expressway. The basic daily passenger train volume was 83.5 pairs.
In 2022, Yantai actively integrated into the regional high-speed railway network. It coordinated and promoted the construction of urban rail transit, accelerated the urban transformation project of the Longyan Railway to serve short- and medium-distance passenger transport along the line. It actively carried out preliminary work on urban rail transit, optimized the conventional railway network, implemented the electrification transformation of the Taowei Railway, and planned and studied the Zhaotao Railway; it accelerated the construction of dedicated railway lines such as Longkou Nanshan and Yulong Island, and promoted the "branch railway into the port and industrial park" initiative.
The Dalailong Railway spans seven districts and cities within the city and is an important component of the provincial "four vertical and four horizontal" backbone railway network, specifically the Delongyan Railway corridor and the Bohai Rim railway network. Relying on the Delongyan Railway, Yantai is connected to the Beijing-Shanghai Railway to the west, the Jiaoji Railway to the south, and the Northeast Railway Network to the north via the Yantai-Dalian Railway ferry, thus fully opening up a major freight corridor into the national railway network. In June 2022, the expansion and renovation project of the Dalailong Railway was fully opened, increasing its annual freight transport capacity from 19 million tons to 30 million tons.
The Weifang-Yantai High-Speed Railway is an important component of the national "Eight Vertical and Eight Horizontal" high-speed rail network around the Bohai Sea and a major passenger transport corridor in northern Shandong Peninsula. It has eight stations within Yantai City, four of which are newly built. Upon completion, it will accelerate the interconnection of the Shandong Peninsula urban cluster.
The Laiyang-Rongcheng High-Speed Railway is an important component of the Shandong high-speed rail network and a major passenger transport corridor for the southeastern coastal area of the Jiaodong Peninsula. It has two stations within Yantai City: Laiyang South Station and Haiyang Station. The Laiyang-Rongcheng High-Speed Railway opened on December 8, 2023. Stations: Yantai Station, Yantai South Station, Yantai West Station, Zhifu Station, Muping Station (Yantai East Station), Penglai City Station, Longkou City Station, Laiyang Station, Laiyang South Station, Taocun Station, Haiyang Station, Haiyang North Station, Taocun North Station, Xujiadian Station.