Dalachi Airbase

Military restructuring and modernization. The People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) underwent significant reorganization in the late 1990s and 2000s, leading to the closure of many older, smaller, or less strategically important airbases. Dalachi was likely considered obsolete or redundant as the PLAAF consolidated its forces into fewer, larger, and more modern facilities.

The airbase is fully decommissioned and abandoned for aviation purposes. While the original runway, taxiways, and some hardened aircraft shelters are still clearly visible on satellite imagery, they are in a state of severe disrepair. A significant portion of the former airfield, particularly on the western side and on former apron areas, has been repurposed and is now the site of a large-scale solar power plant. The presence of this solar farm makes the runway unusable.

Dalachi Airbase was a strategic PLAAF fighter base built during the late 1960s or early 1970s. Its construction was part of China's massive "Third Front" (三线建设) initiative, which aimed to create a defensible industrial and military base in the country's remote interior, safe from potential attack during the height of Sino-Soviet tensions. The base was designed to defend key industrial centers and strategic assets in Gansu province. It likely housed fighter regiments operating aircraft such as the Shenyang J-6 (a Chinese variant of the MiG-19) and later the Chengdu J-7 (a variant of the MiG-21). Its layout, with a long primary runway and dispersed, hardened aircraft shelters, is characteristic of a Cold War-era airbase designed to survive a first strike.

Effectively zero. The extensive development of the solar farm directly on the airport grounds makes any return to aviation operations impossible without a complete and costly removal of the energy infrastructure. Furthermore, the region is now served by the modern Baiyin Chengyuan Airport (IATA: BAE, ICAO: ZLBY), which opened in 2017. The existence of this new civilian airport makes the prospect of reopening the old, obsolete Dalachi base for any purpose economically and logistically unviable.