Nyingchi Mainling Airport

Nyingchi Mainling Airport is located in the Yarlung Zangbo River Valley. With an altitude of only 2,949 meters, Nyingchi Mainling Airport is the lowest airport in Tibet and it is the most challenging airport for flight. It is available to take a nonstop flight to Nyingchi from Chengdu, Lhasa, Chongqing and Guangzhou, and connecting flights from Beijing, Shanghai, Xi’an, Guilin, Lanzhou etc. with a transfer at Chengdu or Chongqing.

Basic Information

Domestic Services

The above information is just for reference.

Geographical Location

Nyingchi Mainling Airport is a civilian airport in Nyingchi City, Tibet, China. The airport is located in the Brahmaputra River Valley, 50 kilometers south of Bayi Town, Bayi District, Nyingchi City. Airfield grade is 4C, runway is 3000 meters, 45 meters wide, it can provide Boeing 757 and other models with taking off and landing. It was officially opened on September 1, 2006. Nyingchi Airport lies in the mountains and valleys, surrounded by mountains more than 4000 meters above sea level, aircraft can only take off and land in the narrow curved valley, the narrowest flight path is less than 4 kilometers from the ridge on both sides of the valley; In addition, the airport is usually in low cloudy weather with variable wind direction and turbulence airflow, the aircraft can only take advantage of the morning time to take off and land, the total airworthiness time of the year is only 100 days.

Features

1. The construction of Nyingchi Mainling Airport in Tibet began in October 2003, and officially opened at the end of September 1, 2006, with a total investment of 780 million yuan. It is one of the key projects in the Tibet Autonomous region, with an annual design passenger volume of 120,000.

2. Nyingchi Mainling Airport is located in the Yarlung Zangbo River Valley, 50 kilometers from Bayi Town of Bayi District, Nyingchi City, at an altitude of 2949 meters. The altitude of Nyingchi Mainling Airport is inferior to Qamdo Bangda Airport(4334 meters) and Lhasa Gonggar Airport(3570 meters), its altitude in the domestic civil airport ranks 12th.

3. Nyingchi Mainling Airport is the lowest airport in Tibet and it is the most challenging airport for flight. It is also the third civil airport in Tibet. With an altitude of 2949 meters, it belongs to plateau airport.

Significance of Constructing Nyingchi Mainling Airport

1. Air Passage of Tourism

Nyingchi is known as “Tibetan Jiangnan” because it is located in the Yarlung Zangbo River basin and is affected by the warm and humid air currents from the Indian Ocean. Although this area is located on the roof of the world, it has a warm and humid climate, rich species, and diverse biological distribution. It is not merely a rare biological gene pool, but also a treasure of tourism development. Nyingchi Mainling Airport make tourists enter Tibet easier, and attract more and more travelers from home and aboard.

2. Boost the Economic Development

The construction of the airport provides an opportunity for the nearest Milin(Mainling) Farm. The adjustment of industrial structure at the right time and the introduction of a large number of advanced fruit tree varieties at home and abroad can develop ecological tourism agriculture.

Accommodation Highway

Gongar Airport has expressway from Lhasa to airport, while Nyingchi Mainling Airport has highway. There is an accommodation highway from Bayi District, the government seat of Nyingchi City, to Nyingchi Mainling Airport. The total length of the highway is 45 kilometers, starting at the west bridgehead of Erqiao Bridge(二桥) in Bayi town, and ending at the crossroad of Milin Airport Road and 306 Provincial Road, with a total investment of 2.845 billion yuan and a design speed of 80 kilometers per hour. The whole highway adopts a two-way four-lane standard for the first class highway. The roadbed width is 21.5 meters, and the highway is connected to 306 provincial roads, 318 national highway, Mirui highway and Gangpai highway. The trial operation was open to traffic on November 5, 2015. You can also go to Nyingchi Railway Station through the highway.

Surrounding Attractions

Many places in Nyingchi are reputed as Tibet’s Switzerland, there are the world’s deepest canyon – Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon, the holy Mount Namcha Barwa, the breathtaking Midui Glacier, and the picturesque Pagsum-tso. 

1. Yarlung Tsasngpo Grand Canyon

Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon or Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon or simply the Tsangpo Canyon, Brahmaputra Canyon or Tsangpo Gorge, along the Yarlung Tsangpo Rive(雅鲁藏布江) in Tibet, China, is the deepest canyon in the world, and at 504.6 km (314 miles) is slightly longer than the Grand Canyon in the United States(美国大峡谷), making it one of the world’s largest. At the lower reaches of the Brahmaputra River, Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon forms the world’s strangest horseshoe bend and becomes the world’s unique water vapor channel, and creates a strange forest ecological landscape in the southeast of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

2. Mount Namcha Barwa

Namcha barwa is a mountain in the Tibetan Himalaya(喜马拉雅山). The traditional definition of the Himalaya extending from the Indus River to the Brahmaputra would make it the eastern anchor of the entire mountain chain, and it is the highest peak of its own section as well as Earth’s easternmost peak over 7,600 meters. It is known as “the father of Iceberg”. There are many hot springs and plants at the foot of Mount Namcha Barwa.

3. Misui Glacier

Located at Yupu Town, Bome County in Nyingchi, Midui Glacier is a typical maritime glacier in Tibet as well as the lowest glacier in the world with its snow line no more than 4,694 meters high. As it’s merely 8 kilometers from China’s famous National Highway No. 318, Midui Galacier is readily accessible. The shiny and crystal glaciers, along with surrounding lakes, farmlands, forests and villages, makes visitors wonder they enter a fairyland.

4. Pagsum-Tso

Draksum-tso Lake is one of Tibet’s most famous scenic spots. It lies in the Gongbogyamda County, at about 90 kilometers away from the county seat Gorlingka and 120 kilometers away from Bayi District.

Tours Including Nyingchi
10 Days Eastern Tibet Photography Tour
8 Days Tibet Fabulous Forest and Mountains Tour
10 Days Eastern Tibet Scenery Tour to Nyingchi
12 Days Tibet Tour with the Historical Relics along the Brahmaputra River