Nyingchi Airport in China's Tibet Autonomous Region will begin service in
early July, reports Air China Southwest Branch Company.
Nyingchi Airport, built at a cost of 780 million yuan (about
US$96.18 million), is the third civilian airport in Tibet. The
other two are in Lhasa and Qamdo.
With a 3,000-meter-long runway, the new airport, situated inside
Nyingchi Prefecture and 400 kilometers from Tibet's regional
capital Lhasa, was completed and passed an assessment on April
28.
With a designed annual passenger flow of 120,000, Nyingchi
Airport began construction in October 2004. The airport is located
at 2,949 meters above sea level, lower than the other two civil
airports.
"The lower altitude will make Nyingchi an ideal first stop for
tourists to gradually adapt themselves to Tibet's highland climate
and minimize the effect of thin oxygen," said a spokesman for the
branch company.
The company will use a Boeing-757 to fly to Nyingchi Airport and
plan to open a regular air route from Chengdu to Nyingchi
Airport.
Nyingchi Prefecture, covering 117,000 square kilometers and
bordering India and Myanmar, is known for its humid and mild
climate, beautiful landscape and rich natural resources.
About 120 kilometers from the Nyingchi Airport is Yarlung Zangbo
River Grand Canyon, the world's largest canyon that is often
referred to as the last secret land.
Air China Southwest Branch Company, which manages the Nyingchi
Airport, is based in Chengdu, the capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, Tibet's neighbor to the
east. Its parent company, Air China, is one of China's leading air
carriers.
(Xinhua News Agency June 14, 2006)