Ngari Gunsa Airport

Ngari Gunsa Airport 阿里昆莎机场 ལྷ་ས་གོང་དཀར་རྫོང་
IATA: NGQ – ICAO: ZUAL
Summary
Airport type		Military/Public
Serves		Shiquanhe
Location		Ngari (Ali), Tibet
Elevation AMSL		4,274 m / 14,022 ft
Coordinates		32°06′31″N 80°03′10″E / 32.10861°N 80.05278°E / 32.10861; 80.05278Coordinates: 32°06′31″N 80°03′10″E / 32.10861°N 80.05278°E / 32.10861; 80.05278
Map
NGQ Location of airport in Tibet
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
	m	ft
	4,500	14,764	Asphalt
Source: [1]

Ngari Gunsa Airport (simplified Chinese: 阿里昆莎机场; traditional Chinese: 阿里昆莎機場; pinyin: Ālǐ Kūnshā Jīchǎng) is a dual-use military and civilian airport serving the town of Shiquanhe in Ngari Prefecture, in the southwest of China's Tibet Autonomous Region near the Indian border. It started operations on 1 July 2010, becoming the fourth civil airport in Tibet after Lhasa, Nyingchi, and Qamdo airports.^[2]

Situated at 4,274 m (14,022 ft) above sea level, Gunsa Airport is the third highest airports in the world after Qamdo Bangda Airport (elevation 4,334 m (14,219 ft)) and Kangding Airport (elevation 4,280 m (14,042 ft)).^[3][4] Gunsa airport has a 4,500-meter runway. It is expected to handle 120,000 passengers by 2020. Construction began in May 2007 and cost an estimated 1.65 billion yuan (241.22 million U.S. dollars).^[2]

As Shiquanhe (Ali) is only a one-day bus drive (about 330 km) from the settlement of Darchen situated just north of Lake Mansarovar, facing Mount Kailash.^[5] It is expected to benefit pilgrims to these two sites, which are considered sacred by Hindus,^[6] Buddhists, Bonpa and Jains.^[7][8] With the expected opening of Peace Airport in October, the five airports, coupled with the Qinghai–Tibet railway and a network of roads, are expected to increase tourism to scenic and holy sites in Tibet.^[6]

With construction starting in 2011 and expected to be completed in 2014, the Nagqu Dagring Airport would surpass Qamdo Bangda Airport to become the world's highest altitude airport at 4,436 meters (14,554 ft) above sea level.^[9]

Airlines and destinations

Airlines	Destinations
Air China	Chengdu, Lhasa
Tibet Airlines	Chengdu, Lhasa

Footnotes

1. ^ 阿里昆莎机场
2. ^ ^{a b} Tibet's fourth civil airport opens
3. ^ The world’s third highest airport opens with milestone Airbus A319 flight
4. ^ 西藏阿里昆莎机场迎来首航 为世界海拔第三高
5. ^ Mayhew and Kohn (2005), p. 209.
6. ^ ^{a b} "Pilgrims to benefit from new Tibet Airport near Mt Kailash."
7. ^ Albinia (2008), p. 288,
8. ^ Gyurme (199), p. 36.
9. ^ World's highest-altitude airport planned on Tibet

References

• Albinia, Alice. (2008) Empires of the Indus: The Story of a River. First American Edition (2010) W. W. Norton & Company, New York. ISBN 978-0393-33860-7.
• Dorje, Gyurme. (2009) Tibet Handbook. Footprint Handbooks, Bath, England. ISBN 9781906098322.
• Mayhew, Bradley and Kohn, Michael. (2005) Tibet. 6th Edition. ISBN 1-74059-523-8.