Shiliuyun - Xinjiang Daily (Reporter Cai Zengle) news: “I come here to appreciate apricot flowers. It's very convenient now. It only takes two hours to here by plane from Urumqi.” said Liu Yi, a passenger who arrived at the Taxkorgan Khunjerab Airport on flight CZ5193 on March 22, 2023.

Photo taken on March 22, 2023 shows passengers on flight CZ5193 arrive at the Taxkorgan Khunjerab Airport in Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County, Kashgar Prefecture, northwest China’s Xinjiang.

On that day, a flight CZ5193, which took off from Urumqi Diwopu International Airport in Urumqi, the capital of northwest China's Xinjiang, landed smoothly at the Taxkorgan Khunjerab Airport in Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County, Kashgar Prefecture, northwest China’s Xinjiang, marking the resumption of Xinjiang's first super-high plateau airport.

Photo taken on March 22, 2023 shows a ground staff guides a passenger plane to approach the Taxkorgan Khunjerab Airport in Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County, Kashgar Prefecture, northwest China’s Xinjiang.

The Taxkorgan Khunjerab Airport, as a key airport construction project of 13th Five-Year Plan, is the first super-high plateau airport in Xinjiang (airports with an altitude of 2438m or above are super-high plateau airports) The construction of the airport began in April 2020, the completion acceptance of the civil aviation professional project was completed on March 10, 2022, and the first flight was completed on December 23, 2022. The airport’s flying area is rated as 4C, with an airport elevation of 3258.4m and a runway length of 3800m. It is currently the civil transport airport with the highest altitude and longest runway in Xinjiang.

Photo taken on March 22, 2023 shows passengers check in for flight CZ5194 at the Taxkorgan Khunjerab Airport in Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County, Kashgar Prefecture, northwest China’s Xinjiang.

This airport is located in Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County in the west of the Pamirs, 298 kilometers from Kashgar City, bordering Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan. It is an important international channel of Xinjiang for export and import linking the domestic market and the Central Asian market. Before this airport was put into use, the only way to travel from Urumqi to Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County is by land transport or by plane to Kashgar City, and then by car. And the fastest way would take at least eight hours. After the round-trip route from Urumqi to Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County of China Southern Airlines was opened, it only takes more than 2 hours.

Photo taken on March 22, 2023 shows passengers are ready to board the flight CZ5194 at the Taxkorgan Khunjerab Airport in Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County, Kashgar Prefecture, northwest China’s Xinjiang.

Photo taken on March 22, 2023 shows passengers are ready to board the flight CZ5194 at the Taxkorgan Khunjerab Airport in Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County, Kashgar Prefecture, northwest China’s Xinjiang.

Photo taken on March 22, 2023 shows a passenger plane takes off from the Taxkorgan Khunjerab Airport in Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County, Kashgar Prefecture, northwest China’s Xinjiang.