Aiming at the limitations of support vector machine(SVM) applied in Airborne LiDAR(Light Detection And Ranging) point data classification, such as weak model sparseness, predictions lack of probabilistic sense, and kernel function which must satisfy Mercer′s condition, a novel LiDAR point cloud data classification method was proposed based on relevance vector machine(RVM). Firstly, the sparse Bayesian classification model and the process of parameter inference and prediction were analyzed. Then, the classification problem was transformed into the regression problem by making use of Laplace′s method. Next, the hyperparameter estimation was attained by utilizing maximum likelihood method and a sequential sparse Bayesian learning algorithm was selected to improve training speed. Finally, multiple classifiers were built to realize multi-class classification. The LiDAR point cloud datum from Niagara and Africa were selected for experiment based on SVM, and experimental results show the advantages of classification method based on RVM.