China opens world's highest civilian airport on Tibetan Plateau

The world's highest civilian airport has opened at an altitude of 4,411 metres on the Tibetan plateau in the south-western Chinese province of Sichuan, state media said on Tuesday. The Daocheng Yading airport in Ganzi prefecture's Daocheng county, or Dapba in Tibetan, launched its first commercial flights on Monday, shortening the travel time from the provincial capital of Chengdu from two days by road to about one hour by plane, reported DPA. Built in two years at a cost of 1.58 billion yuan (255 million dollars), the single-runway airport is expected to boost the local economy by promoting tourism to the Yading nature reserve and other nearby sights, said Yexe Dawa, the governor of Ganzi.