During World War II, the airport was known as Laifeng (Kaifeng) Airfield and was used by the United States Army Air ForcesFourteenth Air Force as part of the China Defensive Campaign (1942–1945). Laifeng was the home of the Chinese-American Joint Intelligence Agency, and operated as a photo-reconnaissance base, with unarmed P-38 Lightning aircraft fitted with cameras flying over Japanese-held areas during the spring and summer of 1945. The American units ended operations from the airfield after the war ended in September 1945.[1]