BEIJING – China will open a new airport in southeast Tibet, near the border with Myanmar and India, in July, making it possible for an additional 120,000 tourists a year to visit a remote area famous for its natural beauty.
The Nyingchi Airport was built and will be managed by Air China Southwest Branch Co., a subsidiary of China’s flag carrier Air China Ltd., the official Xinhua News Agency said.
Tibet already has two airports, one in the capital, Lhasa, and another in the eastern town of Qamdo.
Xinhua reported that because the Nyingchi Airport is at a lower altitude than the two existing airports, it is “an ideal first stop for tourists to gradually adapt themselves to Tibet’s” high altitude. The spokesman’s name was not given.
The city of Nyingchi is about 75 miles from the Yarlung Zangbo River Grand Canyon, which Chinese scientists claim is the world’s deepest canyon.
Air China will operate regular Boeing-757 flights between Chengdu in China’s southwest and Nyingchi, Xinhua said.
