Background High‐altitude pulmonary oedema (HAPE) is a form of noncardiogenic pulmonary oedema. Studies have found that long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) plays an important role in HAPE. ANRIL is significant in pulmonary illnesses, which implies that alterations in ANRIL expression levels may be involved in the beginning and development of HAPE. However, the specific mechanism is indistinct. The present study is meant to explore the effect and mechanism of ANRIL on hypoxic‐induced injury of pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells (PMEVCs). Methods In the hypoxic model of PMVECs, overexpression of ANRIL or knockdown of miR‐181c‐5p was performed to assess cell proliferation, apoptosis, and migration. Furthermore, the levels of apoptosis‐related proteins, inflammatory factors, and vascular active factors were also measured. Results The results showed that, after 24 h of hypoxia, PMVECs proliferation and migration were suppressed in comparison to the control group, along with an increase in apoptosis, a decrease in the expression of ANRIL, and an increase in the expression of miR‐181c‐5p (all p < .05). The damage caused by hypoxia in PMVECs can be lessened by overexpressing ANRIL, which also inhibits the production of TNF‐α, iNOS, and VEGF as well as BAX and cleaved caspase‐3 (all p < .05). Further experimental results showed that overexpression of ANRIL and knockdown of miR‐181c‐5p had the same protection against hypoxic injury in PMVECs (all p < .05). Conclusions Our study suggests that ANRIL may prevent hypoxia injury to PMVECs in HAPE through the negative regulation of miR‐181c‐5p. Our study demonstrated that the proliferation and migration of PMVECs were suppressed after induction of hypoxia compared to the control group. Additionally, there was an increase in apoptosis, a decrease in ANRIL expression, and an increase in miR‐181c‐5p expression observed. Overexpressing ANRIL can alleviate hypoxia‐induced damage in PMVECs, as well as inhibit the production of TNF‐α, iNOS, VEGF, BAX, and cleaved caspase‐3. Furthermore, both overexpressing ANRIL and knocking down miR‐181c‐5p offered similar protection against hypoxic injury in PMVECs.