BEIJING, Sept 20 — The world’s highest civilian airport opened in a remote Himalayan region this week, which is set to slash travel times between a plateau known as the “last pure land on the blue planet” and Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province in Southwest China.
Built at 4,411 metres above sea level (14,471 feet), planes began flying in and out of Daocheng Yading Airport in Garzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture this week, reported Chinese state news agency Xinhua.
The new airport will cut journey times between the nearby Daocheng Yading — a pristine plateau in the Himalayan mountains known as “the last Shangri-La” for its lakes, meadows and sky-scraping peaks — and the provincial capital.
A journey that used to take two days by bus will now take just 65 minutes by plane.
A two-year project, construction of the Daocheng Yading Airport cost 1.58 billion yuan (RM816.4 million) to build and overtakes Bangda Airport which stands 4,334m (14,219 feet) above sea level.
But the latest development has been met with guarded enthusiasm by local Tibetans, as the airport is also seen as an attempt by the Chinese government to assert its communist rule over the region.
Its unspoiled lakes, meadows and mountainscapes have also made the region a pilgrimage site for locals who expressed concerns about the environmental impact of the airport and the volume of tourists it will bring in.
The airport operates daily flights between Chengdu and Daocheng, and plans to add more routes connecting the southwest with the remote Tibetan plateau. — AFP/Relaxnews
