Tibetan Review
October 23, 2010)

China said Oct 21 it will open for air traffic in
early Nov’10 its fifth civilian airport in the
Tibet Autonomous Region at Shigatse. The exact
date has not been set, China’s official Xinhua
news agency Oct 21 cited Zhu Feng, secretary of
the airport's Communist Party of China (CPC) branch, as saying.

The Xigaze Peace Airport, located in Shigatse
Prefecture, 48 km from Shigatse City, is 3,782
metres above sea level, the report said. Tibet’s
second biggest city is now overrun by Chinese
settlers who have the skills, capital and
connections to succeed, pushing the local
Tibetans to a peripheral status and existence.

With an investment of 489 million yuan (US$74
million), China began building the airport on Apr
29’09. It said the airport will handle 230,000
passengers and 1,150 tonnes of cargo, apparently annually, by 2020.

The region currently has civilian airports in
Lhasa, Nyingtri, Chamdo and Ngari with sixth one planned for Nagchu.