Tibetan air passenger volume reaches 3 million

Annual air passenger volume in Tibet hit three million on Tuesday, the autonomous region's civilian aviation authority said on Wednesday.

Tibet opened nine new air routes in 2014, increasing the total number of routes to 57, according to the Tibet Civilian Aviation Bureau. Tibet is now linked to 34 cities by air.

"I dreamed of boarding a plane when I was a child. Now I am well paid, so travelling to domestic cities by air is my holiday of choice" said Dawa Yudron, a Lhasa resident.

Ma Shaobu, a businessman who routinely travels from Tibet to Sichuan Province, said the frequency of flights taking off or landing in Tibet on time had increased, meaning his goods could be delivered on the same day as they were ordered.

Lhasa Airport, since its launch in 1965, saw its annual passenger volume hit its one-million target in 2006. Seven years later, it was two million.

"The rapid growth of Tibet's air passenger volume shows public confidence in Tibet's social stability as well as the improvement of economic and living standards," said He Gang, an economic researcher at the Tibetan Academy of Social Sciences.