ROUTES - C909 starts to operate in second high plateau route

With the smooth landing of C909 themed aircraft "Swan" of Chengdu Airlines at Hejing Bayinbuluke Airport with an elevation of 2,506.85 meters on June 23rd, 2026, the Urumqi=Hejing=Kashgar route was officially opened. This is the second high plateau route operated by C909 aircraft after the Kashgar=Taxkorgan route, marking another verification of the adaptability of China-made commercial aircraft in complex operating environments and injecting strong aerial momentum into the peak tourist season of the Bayanbulak grassland in Xinjiang.

On the same day, Hejing Bayinbuluke Airport held an opening ceremony, welcoming the C909 aircraft with the highest civil aviation honor, a water salute. The airport has ushered in a civil aviation scheduled passenger transport route for the first time since its opening in August 2024. From the early temporary take-offs and landings of the King Air 350 aircraft to the current scheduled flights operated by C909 aircraft, aircraft model iteration and route densification have driven the high plateau airport of Hejing Bayinbuluke to achieve a leapfrog development from "being built" and "being put into operation" to "flying well". 

 

Bayanbulak is a national-level eco-tourism area, featuring world-class natural landscapes such as the "Nine Bends and Eighteen Turns". Previously, people traveling to Bayanbulak from Urumqi or Kashgar mainly depend on long-distance regular passenger coaches, trains or self-driving, or transfer at Korla Airport, which is time-consuming. After the Urumqi=Hejing=Kashgar route was opened, the traveling time by air from the two places to Bayanbulak has been shortened to about one hour, which significantly enhances the convenience of travel. 

Hejing Bayinbuluke Airport is the second high plateau airport in Xinjiang (civil aviation standard: elevation ≥ 2,438 meters). It has a unique geographical environment and complex meteorological conditions, and is directly confronted with multiple challenges such as high elevation, barometric depression and air blast. The opening of this route not only fills the gap of civil aviation routes at the airport, but also becomes a key fulcrum for the development of tourism resources in Hejing County. This route significantly shortens the temporal and spatial distance with the outside world, improves the "three-dimensional transportation" system of Bayingolin Mongolian Autonomous Prefecture, accelerates the deep integration of transportation and cultural tourism industry, and has profound significance for promoting the upgrading of the tourism industry, promoting rural revitalization, and enhancing national unity.