Nanning opens air route to Lhasa, Tibet

Lhasa Gonggar Airport. [File photo/gxnews.com.cn]

From May 3, Guangxi Nanning Wuxu International Airport will open direct flights from Nanning to Lhasa, capital of Tibet autonomous region.

The flight is operated by Chengdu Airlines using an Airbus A319 aircraft and the flight number is EU2785/6. It is scheduled to fly once a day, departing from Lhasa at 12:35 and arriving in Nanning at 16:15. On the return trip, it departs from Nanning at 17:05 and arrives in Lhasa at 20:35. The air flight time is about 3 hours and 30 minutes.

The direct flight between Nanning and Lhasa is of great significance. Lhasa was the only non-navigable capital city of Guangxi and the opening of the route marks the realization of Guangxi possessing air routes to every provincial capital city in China.

In addition, the Nanning-Lhasa route will build a bridge between "China's gateway for ASEAN" and "the planet's third pole," meaning that passengers taking off or transiting from Nanning do not need to transfer to reach Lhasa, greatly improving transportation, as well as having a positive impact in the exchanges and interactions between Guangxi and Tibet in the economic, tourism, and cultural fields.

At present, tickets for the Nanning-Lhasa direct flights are on sale. Discount tickets are being offered from May 3 to May 15 with round trip tickets as low as 1,111 yuan ($156.79) per person.