China to boast worlds second-highest airport

The world’s second highest airport will open in China in about six months time. Possibly to give intending passengers time to train and get acclimatized.

The airport is in Kangding, a Tibetan highland region of Sichuan province in southwest China at a remarkable altitude of 14,042 feet, and will allow tourists to visit one of the most scenic regions of China. The illustration is of the current road at the same height as the air strip will be.

Flights will begin May 1 and cut travel time from the current five to seven hours by road to about 35 minutes in the air.

The Kangding airport is only surpassed in altitude by the Chamdo Bamda airport in Tibet, which is at 14,219 feet. At both airports, jetliners need extra long runways to take off in the thin air.

The airport was designed to handle 330,000 passengers and 1,980 tons of cargo and mail annually and will start operating in May next year.