Airport Re-opens on Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

The airport in the city of Golmud on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, was reopened for the second time November 28 with the landing of a Shandong Airlines passenger aircraft, a Canadian-made 50-seat CRJ200.

The airport went into operation in 1974 and business suspended in September 1985 due to lack of aircraft suitable for flight over the plateau. The operation resumed in 1996 and stopped in July 1997 for the same reason, according to airport officials.

Golmud, in northwestern China's Qinghai Province, is one of the major entries for Tibet-bound travelers and an industrial city where the Qinghai-Tibet highway and the Qinghai-Tibet railway pass by.

With business resumed again in the airport, there will be return passenger flights three times a week, linking Golmud with Jinan (Qingdao) in eastern China's Shandong Province via Zhengzhou, capital of Henan Province in central China, and Xining, the provincial capital of Qinghai.

Shangdong Airlines to Launch Flights to Golmud

Shandong Airlines (SDA) in China is to start a regional air service to Golmud in the western Qinghai Province on Tuesday, November 28.

The 2,580 km flight from Qingdao (Shandong Province) to Golmud will take four hours to complete, including stops at Zhengzhou (Henan Province) and Xining (Qinghai Province). There will be flights every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday morning.

People's Daily Online --- http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/