Over RMB1 Billion (US$128 million) will be invested by the government to expand the Lijiang City Airport in Yunnan Province, according to officials from the Yunnan Provincial Government.

After the expansion, the airport will be the second largest airport in Yunnan Province able to handle 4.05 million passengers every year. Although still unable to handle international flights, the expanded airport will become a hub for new flights to Laos and Thailand in the south via Xishuangbanna, and Tibet and Sichuan in the north, making it a major air hub on the Shangri-La tourist route.

In 2006 Lijiang received over four million tourists, with the number expected to reach seven million by 2008.