The ethnic-style terminal building
The world’s highest-altitude airport—Daocheng Yading Airport—will officially launch daily round-trip flights between Chengdu and Daocheng starting September 16. The two-day road trip from Chengdu to Daocheng Yading will be shortened to just a one-hour flight. This was announced at the Ganzhi Prefecture New Tourism Products Promotion and Daocheng Airport Opening Press Conference held on September 9.
Currently, Daocheng Yading Airport has launched flights to Chengdu, with departures from Chengdu (T2) at 06:50 and arrivals in Daocheng at 07:55. Additional routes to Mianyang, Luzhou, Yibin, and Chongqing (with a stopover in Kangding) are planned for the future. During the “Golden Week” National Day holiday, the number of direct flights from Chengdu to Daocheng Yading will be adjusted according to passenger demand.
During the one-hour flight from Chengdu to Daocheng Yading, travelers can enjoy aerial views of landscapes such as Mount Gongga and Haizi Mountain. To blend seamlessly with the otherworldly, lake-dotted beauty of Haizi Mountain, the terminal building of Daocheng Yading Airport features a distinctive three-story disc-shaped design. To create the most scenic airport possible, aside from the control tower and terminal, all other structures are partially buried in earth, while the surrounding walls adopt traditional Tibetan architectural styles—making passengers feel as though they’ve arrived in the midst of the stunning scenery of the “last Shangri-La” the moment they land.