26 June 2008
Lhasa Airport set for night flights
(Xinhua) Lhasa’s Gongkar (Chin: Gongga) Airport has installed runway lighting to allow it to receive flights around the clock for the first time since it started operation 43 years ago. Chen Hua, an airport official, said that with the new runway lighting, the airport can increase its handling capacity by at least 40 percent. Gongkar Airport, one of four in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), extended its runway to 4,000 metres in 2001, and built a new terminal and passenger facilities. The airport aims to handle 1.1 million passengers a year by 2010. It is not yet known when the first night flights into the airport will take place.