A new air route connecting Guangzhou,the capital city of south China's Guangdong Province, and Lhasa, capital of the country's southwestern Tibet Autonomous Region opened Monday.

A Boeing 757 passenger plane took off from Guangzhou at 7:30 a.m. and reached the Gonggar Airport of Lhasa at 0:40 p.m. Monday, after making a stopover in Deqin, home to the prestigious landscape Shangri-La in southwest China's Yunnan Province.

The new air route is operated by the China Southern Airlines (CSA), which offers return flights every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday between the two cities.

"The new air route is another bridge between Tibet and other areas of China. It will play a positive role in promoting tourism in Tibet and exchanges between Tibet and elsewhere in the country," said Yang Haibin, vice-chairmen of Tibet Autonomous Region, at a welcoming ceremony for CSA's maiden flight.

To date, the southwest subcompany of Air China has been operating scheduled flights on 12 domestic and international routes to Tibet since March 1 of 1965.

The civil aviation department of Tibet reported a total turnover of 706,500 passengers in 2002.

(People’s Daily July 29, 2003)