Tibet to open four new domestic air routes

Four new domestic air routes will open to link Southwest China's Tibet autonomous region and other places, said a regional airline company source on Tuesday.

A route from the regional capital Lhasa to Beijing via Yinchuan, capital of Northwest China's Ningxia Hui autonomous region, will start on March 31 with four round-trip flights a week, according to Lin Mingjing, deputy manager of the marketing department with Tibet Airlines.

The other three routes are from Lhasa to Golmud in Qinghai province, Lhasa to Xining and Yushu also in Qinghai and Tibet's Qamdo to Chongqing. The three will open next month with three round-trips a week.

Using Airbus 319, the new routes will strengthen the link between Tibet and other provinces and boost tourism, said Lin.

Tibet opened 13 new air routes in 2013, bringing the total number in the region to 48 and the number of cities linked with Tibet to 29.

The region received a record 2.76 million air passengers in 2013, up 24.4 percent from the previous year, according to the regional civil aviation authorities.