Standing at 4,411 metres above sea level it is already half the height of a plane's average cruising altitude.
Perched in the mountainous Tibetan region of south-west Sichuan Province, China's newest hub has broken the record for highest civilian airport in the world.
It takes the title from Qamdo Bamda Airport, also in Tibet, which sits at 4,334 metres.
The first Air China flight arrived at the 1.58 billion yuan (£164million) airport on Monday to great fanfare and locals were seen taking photos of themselves on the runway.
The airport was built to connect the Garzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture with the capital of Sichuan Province, Chengdu.
Travel between the two used to take two days by bus, but has now been reduced to a one-hour flight.
The number of self-immolation incidents carried out by monks and protestors over Chinese rule has risen in the past two years, leading China to close the border to foreign visitors on several occasions.
Tibet declared its independence from China in 1913, but the Chinese army re-entered the country in 1950, bringing it back under Chinese power.
The Tibetan head of the Buddhist religion, the Dalai Lama, fled to India in 1959 and has since led calls from Tibet to regain its independence and for the protection of the Tibetan culture from Chinese influence.
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