At 9:28 a.m. on September 16, an A319 aircraft operated by Sichuan Airlines landed smoothly at Ganzi Gesar Airport in Ganzi Prefecture, Sichuan Province, marking the official completion and opening of the airport and the perfect ending of the 13-year construction of Ganzi Prefecture's civil feeder airport.

　　On the opening day, Ganzi Gesar Airport held a grand maiden flight ceremony. Yin Li, deputy secretary of the CPC Sichuan Provincial Committee and governor of Sichuan Province, attended the ceremony and announced the official opening of the airport. Jiang Wenxue, director of Southwest Regional Administration of Civil Aviation, issued the Civil Airport Use Permit to the airport at the ceremony site.

　　With the arrival of the maiden flight, the first group of passengers at Ganzi Gesar Airport experienced a wonderful journey travelling from a modern civilized city to the birthplace of Kangba Tibetan culture. The airport service shortens the travel hours from Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province, to the hinterland of Kangbei in Ganzi Prefecture from the past 8–9 hours to just 1 hour. The airport is surrounded by famous scenic spots such as King Gesar City of Ganzi County, Commander-in-Chief Zhu De and Memorial of the Living Buddha of the Fifth Geda, Dege Scripture Printing Lamasery, Yulong Lacuo, Daofu Yala Mountain, and Saida Wuming Buddhist Institute, boasting rich tourism resources. It can be said that Ganzi Gesar Airport has built an air bridge connecting Kangbei District of Ganzi Prefecture with the world.

　　Ganzi Gesar Airport was officially started in June 2017. After more than two years of construction, it reached airport operating conditions, one and a half years ahead of schedule. The airport is the 50th civil transportation airport in southwest China and the 5th civil transportation airport with a height of more than 4000 meters in China. During the implementation of the project, through optimizing the design and integrating each single building with the terminal building, intensive conservation of land supply, heating, power supply and oxygen supply has been realized, and various business functions such as passenger waiting and check-in have been improved, and the annual passenger throughput increased from the originally designed 220,000 to 500,000.

　　The airport's opening has not only improved the traffic situation of 500,000 people in Kangbei District of Ganzi Prefecture and further improved the transportation network system of the whole prefecture, but also has extremely important significance in improving the emergency rescue and disaster relief capabilities of the whole prefecture, consolidating national defense, maintaining the harmony and stability of the local society, promoting the development of local economy, society and tourism in the whole region, and helping to shake off poverty and build a well-off society in an all-round way.

　　Today, the three civil feeder airports in Ganzi Prefecture with an altitude of more than 4,000 meters are located in the three district centers of Kangdong, Kangbei and Kangnan, respectively, shouldering the heavy responsibility of Ganzi Plateau civil aviation transportation hub, complementing the two national highways 317 and 318 and the Sichuan-Tibet Railway, and comprehensively constructing the main structure of Ganzi Prefecture's land and air transportation network. The Ganzi Gesar Airport has not only opened the Ganzi-Chengdu route, but also plans to open the Ganzi-Chongqing, Ganzi-Xi'an, Ganzi-Kunming and other routes, and will strive to realize the mutual flight of the three airports within the prefecture. It is believed that in the near future, the regional resource allocation in Ganzi will be more optimized, the industrial advantages will be more prominent, and the regional economic planning will be more scientific. This is undoubtedly a booster for Ganzi Prefecture to accelerate its integration into the CPC Sichuan Provincial Committee's strategic plan of "one center with multiple pivots, five-zone-coordination", and "four-direction expansion, all-out opening".