Qamdo Bamda Airport

Bamda Airport, Qamdo 昌都邦达机场
IATA: BPX – ICAO: ZUBD
Summary
Airport type		Public
Location		Qamdo, Tibet, China
Elevation AMSL		4,334 m / 14,219 ft
Coordinates		30°33′13″N 97°06′31″E / 30.55361°N 97.10861°E / 30.55361; 97.10861Coordinates: 30°33′13″N 97°06′31″E / 30.55361°N 97.10861°E / 30.55361; 97.10861
Map
BPX Location of airport in Tibet
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
	m	ft
14/32	5,500	18,045	Grooved Asphalt

Qamdo Bamda Airport (IATA: BPX, ICAO: ZUBD) (Chinese: 昌都邦达机场; pinyin: Chāngdū Bāngdá Jīcháng), also known as Bangda Airport,^[1] located in Bangda, Qamdo, Tibet, is the highest airport in the world, at an elevation of 4,334 metres (14,219 ft). Runway 14/32 is the longest publicly used runway in the world, at 5,500 m (18,045 ft) (or 3.42 miles).^[2]

The low air density at this altitude makes a higher takeoff and landing true airspeed necessary, and therefore a longer runway. The airport is 2.5 hours by mountain road from the county seat of Chamdu/Changdu/Qamdo. The long commute is the result of no flat land closer to the city being available to construct an airport.

Visitors are warned before landing to move slowly on leaving the plane and that they may feel light headed or dizzy because of the thin air.

However, Bangda will surrender its title of being the highest airport in the world. China is planning to build one at Nagqu at an elevation of 4,436 metres (14,500 ft). The construction is planned to start in 2011 and take three years to complete.^[3][4]

Scheduled services

Airlines	Destinations
Air China	Chengdu, Lhasa

See also

• List of airports in the People's Republic of China
• El Alto International Airport (AMSL 13,325')
• List of statistically superlative objects by country
• Extreme points of Earth

References

1. ^ Tibet to be location of highest airport in the world
2. ^ Chamdo Bangda Airport at Great Circle Mapper
3. ^ "Tibet to be location of highest airport in the world." 12 Jan. 2010 [1]
4. ^ http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/item.aspx?type=blog&ak=14726.blog&csp=34

External Links

• Chamdo Bangda Airport at Great Circle Mapper