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China to open fourth Tibet airport next year

Reuters

China will open its fourth civil airport in restless and mountainous Tibet next year, boosting the number of visitors to the remote region, a government-run website said on Wednesday.

The airport will be in Ngari, in the far west of Tibet close to the Indian and Pakistani borders, China’s civil aviation regulator said on its news website (www.caacnews.com.cn), citing a report by the official Xinhua news agency.

“The runway, terminal, workers’ accommodation and public facilities were all finished at the end of 2008,” it quoted Dawa Tashi, Ngari’s deputy Communist Party chief, as saying.

“The airport will start trial operations next 1 June and be served by flights from 2011.”

It will reduce travel time from the Tibetan regional capital Lhasa to Ngari from a four-day car trip over bumpy roads to a two-hour flight, the official added.

“The opening of the airport has great significance to Ngari’s economic development, especially for tourism.”

Three years ago, China opened its third civil airport in Tibet and is planning more.

Beijing says that the new airports, roads and a railway to Tibet will promote development and help raise living standards, while Tibet activists say it will speed up the pace of Chinese migration there and dilute Tibetan Buddhist culture.

Tibet was rocked last year by anti-Chinese protests, driving down tourist numbers as the violence kept people away and the government tightened controls on who could enter the region.

Copyright © 2009 Reuters

Published in Reuters website