History
The history of Xichang Qingshan Airport can be traced back to Xichang Xiaomiao Airport and its predecessor, Xiaomiao Airport. Xiaomiao Airport was located on the Anning River Valley plain, north of Xiaomiao Township (now part of Chang'an Community, Xichang City), at the foot of Tianwang Mountain, 7 kilometers northwest of Xichang County. In 1932, to gain an advantage in the Sichuan warlord wars, a large amount of money was invested in the construction of Xiaomiao Airport. At that time, Xiaomiao Airport was just a muddy dam about the size of a football field, without any safety facilities. Xiaomiao Airport was expanded in 1935, and upon completion, it was H-shaped, with two 50-meter-long and 19-meter-wide vertical runways and one 750-meter-long and 10-meter-wide horizontal runway. However, since its completion and expansion, the airport had never been put into use. In 1936, Chiang Kai-shek planned to have Yang Sen lead the 20th Army to garrison Xichang. In March of the same year, Yang Sen, commander of the 20th Army, arrived in Xichang, marking the first use of Xiaomiao Airport. In 1939, Xikang Province was established, and Xichang was under its jurisdiction. Due to the escalating War of Resistance against Japan, Chiang Kai-shek established his headquarters in Xichang and undertook a large-scale expansion of Xiaomiao Airport, reinforcing the runway to 1500 x 50 meters, constructing evacuation routes, and building dozens of aircraft shelters. These shelters were difficult to spot from the air or from a distance, so much so that even when Japanese aircraft bombed Xiaomiao Airport, they failed to detect the two fighter planes inside the shelters. In October 1950, the civil aviation portion of Xiaomiao Airport was named Xichang Xiaomiao Airport, and the Chengdu-Chongqing route was opened to handle passenger and cargo transportation services. Operations ceased at the end of the same year, and the Xichang Civil Aviation Station was abolished. In March 1958, the Chengdu Administration of Civil Aviation opened the Chengdu-Xichang route at the Xichang Civil Aviation Station, and the station was reinstated. In 2019, Xichang Airport launched a renovation and expansion project costing 200 million yuan. The project included upgrading the airport taxiways, VIP lounges and navigation lighting facilities, as well as building six new Category C aircraft parking stands. ==Airlines and destinations==