Yan'an Ershilipu Airport

The airport was closed because it was replaced by the new, modern Yan'an Nanniwan Airport (IATA: ENY, ICAO: ZLYA). The primary reasons for the replacement were:
1. **Topographical and Safety Constraints:** Ershilipu Airport was situated in a narrow valley on the Loess Plateau. The surrounding high terrain made approaches and departures difficult and posed significant safety risks, especially in poor weather conditions.
2. **Limited Capacity and Expansion Potential:** The runway was relatively short (2,300 meters) and the airport's location made it impossible to expand the runway or terminal facilities to accommodate larger aircraft (like the Boeing 737-800 or Airbus A320) or handle the increasing passenger traffic to the historically significant city of Yan'an.
3. **Urban Encroachment:** The city of Yan'an had expanded around the airport, increasing noise pollution and safety concerns for the surrounding residential and commercial areas.

The airport is decommissioned and inactive. The physical infrastructure, including the runway, taxiways, and terminal building, still exists but is no longer used for aviation. The site has been handed over to the municipal government for urban redevelopment. The plan is to transform the former airport grounds into a new city district, named the 'Yan'an Airport Old Town New District'. This development is expected to include a 'Red Aviation Town' (红色航空小镇) that will preserve parts of the airport as a historical site and museum, alongside new residential, commercial, and public park areas.

Yan'an Ershilipu Airport holds immense historical importance in 20th-century Chinese history. Its official ICAO code was ZLYN.

- **Cradle of the Revolution Airlink:** After the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) established its headquarters in Yan'an in 1936, this airport became its main connection to the outside world.
- **The Dixie Mission:** It is famously the site where the U.S. Army Observation Group, known as the 'Dixie Mission', landed in July 1944. This was the first official contact between the United States and the Chinese Communists, a pivotal event in Sino-US relations during World War II.
- **Mao Zedong's Travels:** Chairman Mao Zedong used this airport for critical journeys. Most notably, he departed from Ershilipu Airport in August 1945 to fly to Chongqing for peace negotiations with the Kuomintang leader, Chiang Kai-shek.

When active, it operated as a dual-use military and civilian airport. As a civil airport (Class 3C), it handled regional flights connecting Yan'an with major Chinese cities like Xi'an, Beijing, and Shanghai, primarily using smaller aircraft such as the MA-60 turboprop and smaller regional jets.

There are zero prospects for reopening Yan'an Ershilipu Airport for any form of commercial or general aviation. It has been permanently and completely replaced by the far superior Yan'an Nanniwan Airport. Its future lies entirely in non-aviation urban redevelopment and historical preservation.