China’s new Daocheng Yading Airport succeeds China’s previous Bangda Airport as the highest civilian airport of the world by a margin of 77 meters. Both the airports are located in the south western region of Tibet, with Daocheng Yading established at a price of $258 million to attend to 280,000 passengers a year.
The Airport is located at a height of about 14,500 feet above sea level, making it almost half the altitude of the average commercial flight. With thinner air prevailing over such a heightened atmosphere, the airport has one of the longest runways having a length of 13,780 feet. This adds in as a safety feature to allow the aircraft gaining a sustainable thrust for takeoff, which becomes difficult in such an environment.
The new airport received its first flight on the 16th of September from the provincial capital of Chengdu, which will serve as the primary stopover for access to the entire domestic and international destination network for the time being. Locals thronged the airport for the celebrations, carrying out a welcoming ceremony while being dressed in traditional costumes. The airport is also aimed upon boosting the confidence of the local population over the Chinese government.
Daocheng Yading Airport will add in further major domestic destinations by 2014, such as Shanghai, Chonqing and Guangzhou.The Chinese government has decided for bringing a complete overhaul to multiple remote and secondary airports, aiming to boost these areas economically by creating accessibility opportunities of tourism as well as commerce.
The Daochen Yading Airport will allow cut down of travel journeys from Chengdu from 2 days by road to roundabout an hour by air. It is established in the Garzi Tibetan prefecture, whose terrain includes major natural attractions consisting of snow –capped peaks and mountain ridges. The entire Yading Nature Reserve has valleys, lakes and forests which have been rarely visited by tourists. Due to the remote nature of the area, these landmarks are undisturbed from any form of depletion from human settlement or urbanization.
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