Dali to Chengdu Tianfu is a short flight, similar to the route Chengdu-Lijiang. Both airports aren't very far and connect two of Yunnan's most famous spots with the rest of China.
The flight offers - similarly to Chengdu-Lijiang- a deep insight on the geography of both Yunnan and Sichuan provinces, with views on the Eastern Tibet mountain range (Meili Snow Mountain, Daocheng Yading & Mount Gongga).
Dali airport is a small airport (for China) and operates a single runway. The terminal felt old (yet clean) and despite its recent extension, already insufficient at handling the increasing number of domestic tourists, from all over China.
The check-in & security were handled efficiently. And we were soon in the waiting hall, offering a wide array of shops and restaurants for the hungry traveler. The terminal has nice view over the runway, where one can see the numerous narrow-bodies land and take-off (Boeing and Airbus, so far).
My plane was B-5214, one of the 737-700 wearing the "Pink Peony" livery. Unfortunately, I didn't manage to take any good pictures of the aircraft. We boarded our plane on-time but had to wait over 20 minutes for taking-off. It was nice to seat in a cabin from another time: the legroom was decent, the seats hard but cosy, and the armrests still have an ashtray!
Similarly to Chengdu-Lijiang, no catering was offered by Air China, but a bottle of water had been put on each seat's pocket, prior to departure. The flight itself was smooth, though the skies were cloudy and didn't allow much in terms of photography. We got a glimpse on Mount Gongga before going down to the clouds, towards Tianfu Airport.
Air China usually has gate access in China Mailand airports, so that disembarking was quick. Despite being a very recent airport, Tianfu still has markings for A30 & other older wide-body planes. Quite funny!
Chengdu Tianfu Airport domestic terminal is quite large and it took us 10+ minutes to access the Arrival Area & Luggage Pickup, before exiting to Chengdu Metro Line 18 & 19, to downtown. Despite being far from Chengdu, this airport is clean, efficient and well-built, with restrooms easily accessible on the way to/from the gates.
