New civil airport to open on Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

BEIJING: China is set to open a new civil airport on Qinghai-Tibet Plateau by the end of this year, the sixth aerodrome in the ecologically-rich Qinghai province located adjacent to Tibet.

Located in Golog Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Qinghai Province, the airport is located at an altitude of 3,500 meters.

The construction of the airport will be completed by the end of October and it will feature a 3,800-meter-long runway besides a 3,000-square-meter terminal.

Three air routes will connect Golog to Qinghai's capital of Xining, Lhasa City in Tibet and Chengdu City in Sichuan Province.

The airport will be the sixth in Qinghai and the first in Golog which boasts rich ecological and tourist resources, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

High altitude Tibet has five airports connecting the Himalayan region with the rest of China.

The airports coupled with large-scale rail and highway development enhance Chinese military's logistic ability to transport men and material in the border region.

The airport is expected to make travel more convenient for tourists and scientific researchers who come to the prefecture.