Tibet was regarded as "Forbidden Zone" as far as aviation was concerned due to its high altitude and its towering mountain ranges. How was this "taboo" broken? As for an airport on the Tibetan Plateau, how was it constructed?

The "Hump" Opens the Way

"The Hump" was the primary air passage for the allied forces in bringing in cargo and passengers to the beleaguered but still resisting areas of China during the bid by the invading Japanese military to gain a stranglehold during World War II. The route over the mountains separating China from India was opened in 1942 and continued to operate until the end of the war, making a great contribution in the ultimate defeat of the Japanese forces.

In the summer of 1942, the Japanese army cut off the Sino-Burmese Highway, the last land passage between China and allied forces, thus posing a serious problem in how to continue to deliver the vital war materials needed by the Chinese. U.S. President Roosevelt gave the order: open up a new route to China at any cost. As there was no way to do so by sea or land, the only viable route was in the air, and the delivery of supplies of the so-called "hump" came into being.

Planes would take off from the eastern Indian state of Assam, and weave their way through the Himalayan passes, over Gaoligung and Hengduan mountains, the Salween, Nujiang, Lancangjiang and Jingshajiang rives until they finally reached the Yunnan Plateau and then on to Sichuan Province. The route was some 500 miles (780km) along, but the main difficulty was the altitude of the terrain which had to be overflow, most of it about 4,500-5,500 meters and sometimes rising to 7,000 meters. Mountains rise and fall continuously like the humps of camels, hence its nickname of the "Hump".

Not long after the opening of the route, the American cargo planes began to suffer heavy damage, raising questions as to whether another route should be sought. Captain Scott, who had once undertaken a forced landing in Burma to save General Stillwell from capture, launched a brave attempt to fly over the "Roof of the World", namely Tibet, but his plane crashed only some 30 minutes into the flight. The U.S. air transport headquarters continued to seek for a safe air passage to China. Unfortunately, 160 more pilots and 60 planes ended up being buried in the icy mountains and valleys of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

The U.S. military then decided to try a different way, again starting from Assam and then entering Tibet; after an hour's flight over Tibet, the route turned east, passing over the dangerous Hengduan Mountain, and then reaching either Kunming in Yunnan or Chengdu in Sichuan via Daliangshan and Xiaoliangshan on the border between the two provinces. This proved to somewhat safer than the alternatives, but it also doubled the distance flown compared to the former straight line.


The bravery of the pilots flying in extreme conditions on the edge of the plane's theoretical maximum performance not only helped pin down and repulse the invading Japanese, but also established a precedent for launching large-scale air transportation to support the huge remote interior areas of China.

According to the U.S. official war history, the U.S. Air Force transported 650,000-tons of various vital materials for China in a continuous effort lasting just over three years. In the process, however, the air force lost 468 planes, that is, 13 planes per month on average; 1,579 aircrew died or were listed as missing.

According to specialists, as the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau offers peculiar challenges to anyone seeking to fly over the region. The terrain is very complex, creating unique and ever-changing weather patterns, and the high mountains are covered by ice and snow all year round. As for the safe flying height, it is above 7,500 meters to east of Qamdo in eastern Tibet, and 8,600 meters to west of Qamdo; elsewhere, it is only about 2,000-4,000 meters. The changing climate of ice and snow, clouds and fog, wind, and lightening storms pose great difficulties to flying and to safe, accurate navigation.

Since the 1950s, the Central Government has invested much money on the Tibet plateau to construct five airports. Although some were subsequently closed, they made an unforgettable contribution in various fields such as economic construction, social development, and the growing associations between Tibet and outside world in all the historical periods in Tibet, as well as adding a new page to world¡¯s air transport history.

The First Airport in Tibet

In May 1956, in the southwest of Damxung County at a height of 4,200 meters above sea level, the first and the highest runway in the world at that time was constructed in only 118 days, involving human labor and no transport machinery more sophisticated than wheelbarrows. Although this airport only had an earth runway obviously unsuitable for large, modern planes, it was the first airport in the history of Tibet and was widely acclaimed.

On May 26th and 29th of 1956, on basis of many trials, Pilot Han Lin and Pan Guoding flying a Russian I1-12 and CV-240-401 (Beijing) respectively landed at Damxung airport from the north and south. They thus broke the "forbidden air zone" once and for all, attracting great attention in world aviation circles.

After the planes landed, herders of Damxung offered hada to the aircrew and the planes, and sang and danced.

The 10th Panchen Erdeni congratulated them by telegraph: "This is a great victory in the world's air history [and] it is a source of pride for China's people and Tibet's people!"

On March 1st 1965, an aircrew headed by Captain Sun Quangui set off from Beijing in an I1-18, making an overnight stopover in Chengdu, and arriving at Damxung airport at 10:30 on March 2nd. It signaled the formal opening of the Beijing-Chengdu-Lhasa air route.

Now, Damxung airport is "out of commission gloriously", and the runway has become a racetrack for local herders.


Gonggar Airport

In March 1966, Gonggar Airport began to be constructed in the Yarlung Zangbo River Valley. On September 20th, the construction of the main runway at an altitude of 3,540 meters was finished, being 3,600 meters long, 45 meters wide, with a cement surface and designed according to the requirements of the I1-18. In November, the Lhasa civil aviation station was moved to from Damxung to Gonggar Airport, which has become the main facility for handling air travel between Tibet and the hinterland and is the second plateau-based modern airport in China.

In 2000, the Central Government invested 376 million Yuan to expand Gonggar Airport, which went back into full service on October 15th 2004. The parking apron was enlarged to 32,000 square meters and can handle five Airbus A340's or seven Boeing 757 planes at the same time. The expansion has enabled the airport to satisfy the demands of tourist throughput of 1.1 million people a year, or 1,300 people per hour at peak time. The new terminal is a one-story and a half reinforced concrete frame structure and is equipped with advanced computer management system. The main passenger handling facilities are on the first floor, while the second floor houses a waiting hall, restaurants and shops, as well as four boarding bridges including one double-way bridge and three single-way bridges. Today a modern garden-style airport stands on the snow plateau.

Peace Airport in Xigaze

After Gonggar Airport was completed, in accordance with directions of the Central Government and the State Council, Xigaze Peace Airport began to be constructed in 1968. In October 1972, the major projects including runways and terminus were completed, and, in May 1973, the last support facilities were ready. In July 1990, the then Party General Secretary Jiang Zemin boarded his special plane at the Peace Airport to return to Beijing from a visit to the region. Currently, the Peace Airport is temporarily closed.

Bamda Airport

In April 1992, with the approval of the State Council, the Central Government invested 257 million Yuan as special funds to the repair of Bamda Airport. The formal construction started in May 1993 and was completed in October 1994. The altitude of Bamda Airport is 4334 meters. The runway is 4,200 meters long and 45 meters wide. It is the first in Tibet and the one with the highest altitude and longest runway in the world. The area of the parking apron is 1,449 square meters and is capable of handling various planes smaller than the Boeing 757.


Within the district of Bamda Airport, there are seven mountains with the altitude above 6,000 meters. The climate is very cold and the difference in temperature between day and night is very large. It is the point where the warm air current of the Indian Ocean collides with cold current of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. For four seasons in a year, high winds, sandstorms, hailstones, lightening and rainstorm make life difficult for air transport.

Since April 28th 1995 when Bamda Airport was put into use, it has insured safe navigation for 10 years. The air routes have increased from one to two and the number of weekly scheduled flights has increased from one to five. It has safely handled 3,184 flights and transported 280,000 people and 3,200 tons of cargo to date.

Nyingchi Forest Airport

The Central Government invested 783.2 million Yuan to construct Nyingchi Airport that started in October last year and is going to be completed in three years. The airport is designed to serve growing tourism. The runway is 3,000 meters long and 45 meters wide, and the parking apron occupies an area of 3,000 square meters.

Nyingchi forests cover an area of 2.64 million hectares, with the forest coverage hitting 46.3 percent. There are two State-class nature reserves.

To the north of Nyingchi Airport, the Yarlung Zangbo River and the Niyang River meet; it clings to Senshan Mountain in the east and west at an altitude is 2,954 meters. The climate is pleasant and the surrounding shrubs and trees are luxuriant. In order to protect the ecological environment, the builders move the shrub wood from the runway to surrounding slope for protection of the earth zone. Judging from the blueprint, this writer found that the airport would become a Forest Airport with special plateau scenes worthy of its name. Nyingchi Airport is more than 400 km away from Lhasa and is only some 120 km away from "human being's last secret place"-the Yarlung Zangbo River Canyon, and is an ideal tourist site.

Now, as for Lhasa Gonggar Airport and Qamdo Bamda Airport owned by Tibet, Bamda Airport poses much difficulty to tourists in winter because of the high altitude and far distance from Lhasa. After the construction of Nyingchi Airport, tourists can adapt to the plateau climate gradually from relatively low altitude places as well as appreciating the special plateau scenes along the way.

China's Tibet Magazine
Namgyi& Ye Hui