Daocheng Yading Airport

Daocheng Yading Airport (IATA: DCYICAO: ZUDC) is an airport in Daocheng County in Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. The prefecture is in Sichuan Province, China. The airport is in Sangdui Town. Sandui town is 50 km north of the county seat. Yading Nature Reserve is 130 km away from the airport.[3] Daocheng Yading is 4,411 m (14,472 ft) above sea level. This makes it the highest civilian airport in the world.[1][4]

Daocheng Yading Airport
IATA: DCYICAO: ZUDC
Summary
Airport type Public
Serves Daocheng, Sichuan, China
Location Sangdui Township
Elevation AMSL 4,411 m / 14,472 ft
Coordinates 29°19′23″N 100°03′12″E / 29.32306°N 100.05333°E / 29.32306; 100.05333Coordinates: 29°19′23″N 100°03′12″E / 29.32306°N 100.05333°E / 29.32306; 100.05333
Map
Location of airport
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
16/34 4,200 13,780 Concrete
Sources:[1][2]
Daocheng Yading Airport
Traditional Chinese 稻城亞丁機場
Simplified Chinese 稻城亚丁机场

Construction started after plans for the airport were approved in April 2011. The construction cost 1.58 billion yuan (US$255 million). The airport officially opened on 16 September 2013.[5] The first flight was Air China flight 4215 on an Airbus A319. The flight came from Chengdu. It carried 118 passengers.[2] The opening of the airport reduces the time needed to travel from Daocheng and Chengdu to one hour. This journey used to take two days by bus.[6]

Facilities

Daocheng Yading Airport has one runway that is 4,200 m (13,800 ft) long and 45 m (148 ft) wide. It has a 5,000 m2 (54,000 sq ft) terminal building. The airport terminal is shaped like a flying saucer. There are two aerobridges.[7] It is designed to handle 280,000 passengers per year.[8]

Pilots landing and taking off a plane from the airport need to be a captain. They also need to have a license that allows them to land on a high elevation airport. They cannot be more than 55 years old. They also need have 1,200 hours flying experience. Out of this 1200, 100 must be on the type of aircraft they are currently flying. [9]

Airlines and destinations

Daocheng Yading is served by airlines such as Air China, China Southern Airlines as well as Sichuan Airlines. There are several destinations these airlines fly to. Air China operates flights to Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport (Chengdu) and Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport (Guangzhou). China Southen operates flights to Chengdu and Guangzhou. Sichuan Airlines operates flights to Chengdu, Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport, Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport[10] and Xi'an Xianyang International Airport.[11]

The table below lists the destinations and airlines:

Airlines Destinations 
Air China Chengdu


China Southern Airlines Chengdu, Guangzhou


Sichuan Airlines Chengdu, Chongqing, Hangzhou, Xi'an

Daocheng Yading Airport Media

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Ben Blanchard (16 September 2013). China opens world's highest civilian airport. https://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/16/us-china-airport-idUSBRE98F0AG20130916. Retrieved 16 September 2013. 
  2. 2.0 2.1 (in zh)Central News Agency. 16 September 2013. http://www.cna.com.tw/News/aCN/201309160343-1.aspx. Retrieved 17 September 2013. 
  3. Chen Chunyu (3 March 2011). (in zh)Sichuan Online. http://wccdaily.scol.com.cn/epaper/hxdsb/html/2011-03/03/content_298216.htm. Retrieved 17 September 2013. 
  4. Agnew, Mark (2019-05-07). "Four reasons you should race the 32km Yading Skyrun". South China Morning Post. Archived from the original on 2020-08-18. Retrieved 2020-11-01.
  5. Lu Hui (16 September 2013). "World's highest civilian airport starts operating". Xinhua. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2013-09/16/c_132724777.htm. Retrieved 16 September 2013. 
  6. "Highest airport". Guinness World Records. Archived from the original on 2020-11-01. Retrieved 2020-11-01.
  7. (in zh)Chengdu Business News. 16 September 2013. http://e.chengdu.cn/html/2013-09/16/content_426212.htm. Retrieved 16 September 2013. 
  8. "The world's top 10 highest airports". International Airport Review. 2018-08-22. Archived from the original on 2018-08-22. Retrieved 2020-11-01.
  9. 杨育才 陈曦 (2013-09-06). "去稻城,下了飞机就进"飞碟"". 新闻晨报. Archived from the original on 2013-09-23. Retrieved 2013-09-19.
  10. "5月1日起,杭州洛杉矶航线机型升级到空客最先进客机A350". Archived from the original on 2019-07-08. Retrieved 2020-11-01.
  11. "川航开通西安=稻城航线,每周执飞三班". Sohu. Archived from the original on 2019-07-08. Retrieved 2020-11-01.

Other websites

Records
Preceded by
Qamdo Bamda Airport
World's highest airport
4,411 m (14,472 ft)

2013–present
Succeeded by
Incumbent