Tibet's Xigaze Airport begins operations

In the morning of Oct. 30, an Airbus A319 smoothly landed, marking the opening of Xigaze Airport, Tibet's fifth civil airport.

It is understood that the Xigaze airport is Tibet's key construction project of the 11th Five-Year Plan. Its preliminary design and budget was approved at 532 million yuan.

The airport is located in Jiangdang village, Xigaze City, which is 43 kilometers away from the city, at an altitude 3,782 meters. It has a terminal area of 4,502 square meters. It is designed to meet the demand of a passenger throughput of 230,000 by 2020 as well as a cargo and mail throughput of 1,150 tons. In addition, 2,580 aircraft can take off and land there.

By Yan Meng, People's Daily Online