Ngari Kunsa Airport to open in July

With the successful flight trial on May 28, the Ngari Kunsa Airport in northwest Tibet's Ngari Prefecture is ready to open in July. The flight distance from Lhasa to Ngari is 1,098km.

The air-ticket price is supposed to start from 2,590 yuan. There are the flights on Tuesdays and Fridays. The booking online service is not available, but tickets only can be booked at the appointed stations. 50 to 60 passengers can be taken by Air China A319 in winter, while 30 to 20 ones in summer because of the weather in Ngari and the large aircraft fuel load. According to Li Qiang, deputy stationmaster of Ngari Civil Aviation Administration,

The whole airport constructions cost 1.7 billion yuan totally, which started from May of 2007. Ngari Prefecture, 1,600 km away from Tibet's capital of Lhasa, lies in the northwestern part of Tibet with complicated geological conditions. Transportation has been a bottleneck to the area's social and economic development, especially the development of the local tourism industry, according to local authorities.

Source from: China Tibet Information Center