Copper-catalyzed aerobic oxyarylation of [1,2,3]triazolo[1,5-a]pyridines is developed. Notably molecular oxygen was utilized as one of the reagents and the transformation resulted in the formation of novel pyridinium triazolinone ylides. A basic mechanism for the one-pot process is proposed and further functionalization of the ylidic products were also presented. © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2015.