LHASA – More flights to Lhasa, capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region, will be opened in July and August, according to the southwestern branch company of Air China, China’s largest airline.
The two months are the gold time for tourism in Tibet, and arrivals will rise dramatically during the period. The company decided to increase two more flights from Chengdu, capital of neighbouring Sichuan Province, to the Tibetan capital. It will open another two more flights to meet demand in August.
The company is the exclusive operator of Chengdu-Tibet flights, and it hopes the planned flight increase will help alleviate the shortage of plane tickets on this flight route. Booming tourism in Tibet has greatly increased the number of visitors heading to ‘the Roof of the World’, together with rising trips by business people and those going to see relatives in Tibet as more people outside Tibet go for business in the region.
But due to unfavourable weather both in Chengdu and Lhasa, flights are often delayed and in peak times passengers cannot buy tickets unless they book a week earlier.
Because of geographic reasons, the airport in Chengdu is prone to heavy fog while the airport in Lhasa is likely to be hit by sandy weather or covered by low-altitude clouds.
NOTE : Xinhua is a official news agency of the PRC.
