A 7.0-magnitude earthquake with a depth of 20 kilometers struck Sichuan's Jiuzhaigou County at 21:19 on August 8.

Jiuzhai Airport, completed in 2003, is an important connection point in Jiuzhai County. Because Jiuzhai Airport is a high-altitude airport which requires higher qualifications of aircraft and pilots, not every airlines could operate flights at a plateau airport. The aircraft that have the qualification to fly to Jiuzhai Airport mainly include Airbus A319s for high-altitude airport and Boeing B737-700s.

Air China, Lucky Air, Tibet Airlines, China Eastern Airlines, Chengdu Airlines, Sichuan Airlines and West Air are operating or have operated Jiuzhaigou routes. All of these 7 airlines have the capability to perform earthquake relief missions. After the earthquake, these 7 airlines have flown to the stricken area to carry out stranded passengers in a timely manner.