In 2018, Lijiang Sanyi Airport (Lijiang Airport) received a total of 753.17 million passengers, a year-on-year increase of 6 percent. The airport also achieved its 23rd "safety year" since its construction.

Lijiang Airport promoted safety, service, efficiency, development, stability, reconstruction and expansion, and achieved satisfactory results in many areas, including airport security services, market expansion, internal control management, construction and development, the application of new technology, and moral cultivation.

The airport made a total of 56,955 flights, a year-on-year increase of 5 percent, and transported 11,333.2 metric tons of cargo and mail, a year-on-year increase of 10.4 percent. Flights were on average 86.52 percent full throughout the year.

The airport has recently opened and restored 15 routes, connecting it to 67 new cities. It also introduced Yunnan Hongtu Airlines and China Express, which will operate within the Lijiang market. The number of operating airlines reached 34.

Lijiang Airport also successfully convinced Eastern Airlines and Yunnan Hongtu Airlines to add three extra overnight flights to Lijiang, bringing the total number of overnight flights at the airport to 14-16.

Lijiang Airport won the "most punctual medium-sized airport" honor for the Asia-Pacific region in March, April and May. Lijiang Airport flights were on time 87.98 percent of the time in 2018.

The airport achieved full LTE 4G private network coverage and also began integrating a new operation system and A-CDM.

The airport also continued introducing new technology related to security systems, process management, control systems, LTE wireless trunking communication systems, cloud storage, and panoramic monitoring, and officially launched the "facial recognition" smart flight service project, improving the quality of management at the smart airport.