China building world's highest altitude airport near Tibet

China is building the world's highest altitude civilian airport close to Tibet as part of a plan to develop infrastructure in the strategic Himalayan region.
The 4,411-metre-high Daocheng Yading Airport is under construction in Garzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan province, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
It will surpass the Bangda Airport in Qamdo Prefecture in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region which has an elevation of 4,334 metres above sea level.
So far, China has built five airports at Gonggar, Lhasa, Bangda, Xigaze and Ngari in Tibet Autonomous Region.
The rapid development of air infrastructure in Tibet coupled with rail and road development raised concerns in India as it provides massive advantage to China to move its troops and equipment overcoming the geographical problems in the remote region of the world.

Meanwhile, the Bangda Airport, which was closed for repairs, is expected to resume operations tomorrow.

The airfield closed on June 22 so that its 19-year-old runway could be repaired, the Tibet branch of the Civil Aviation Administration said.
The airport has two routes in service, one linking Qamdo and Lhasa, capital of Tibet, and another linking Qamdo and Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province.
Its record high altitude airport will eventually be topped by the Daocheng Yading Airport, which is under construction, the report said.