Staff members of a C919 large passenger aircraft disembark from the plane at the Turpan Jiaohe Airport in Turpan, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, June 28, 2020. Photo: Xinhua

Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region is ramping up airport construction, with a new high-altitude airport scheduled to open in the first half of this year. 

At present, 91 percent of the reconstruction and expansion of Turpan Jiaohe Airport has been completed. Construction of the terminal building expansion at Kashgar International Airport is also expected to be completed in near future, and the main steel frame structure key to the reconstruction and expansion of Urumqi Diwopu International Airport is already in place, according to the Xinjiang Daily, citing data from Xinjiang Airport Group on Monday.  

In 2021, Xinjiang accelerated the construction of its regional airports. A total of 22 civil airports have been completed and put into use across Xinjiang, the highest number among all provincial-level administrative units in China.

On December 26, Yutian airport, located in Hotan Prefecture in southern Xinjiang, marked a full year of operations. It achieved a throughput of 107,200 passenger trips, and a cargo throughput of 54.17 tons. 

On December 29, the local civil aviation regulator issued an approval letter to Zhaosu Tianma Airport located in the Yili Kazak Autonomous Prefecture and agreed that the airport had passed an industry acceptance inspection, meaning that the airport will soon become the 23rd airport, and the first plateau airport, put into operation in Xinjiang. The airport is expected to handle 200,000 passengers and 600 tons of freight each year.

Recently, the Tashkurgan Khunjerab airport completed its first calibration flight. As the only high-altitude airport in Xinjiang, it ranks 14th in the country for runway altitude, and is scheduled to enter operations in May 2022 and will replace Kashgar airport as the westernmost airport in China.

During the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25), Xinjiang will further accelerate the construction of airports, with a planned 15 civilian airports to be built or already under construction, bringing the total number of civilian airports in the region to 37.

Global Times