Daocheng Yading Airport

Daocheng Yading Airport
Summary
Airport typePublic
ServesDaocheng, Sichuan, China
LocationSangdui Township
Opened16 September 2013
Elevation AMSL4,411 m / 14,472 ft
Coordinates29°19′23″N 100°03′12″E / 29.32306°N 100.05333°E / 29.32306; 100.05333
Map
DCY is located in Sichuan
DCY
DCY
Location of airport
DCY is located in China
DCY
DCY
DCY (China)
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

Daocheng Yading Airport (IATA: DCY, ICAO: 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]

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:

AirlinesDestinations
Air China Chengdu
China Southern Airlines Chengdu, Guangzhou
Sichuan Airlines Chengdu, Chongqing, Hangzhou, Xi'an

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Ben Blanchard (16 September 2013). "China opens world's highest civilian airport". Reuters. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 16 September 2013.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 陸亞丁機場啟用 世界海拔最高 [Yading Airport opens in mainland, the highest in the world]. Central News Agency (in Chinese). 16 September 2013. Archived from the original on 21 October 2013. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
  3. ↑ Chen Chunyu (3 March 2011). 稻城亚丁机场建设获立项 成都一小时飞稻城. Sichuan Online (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. 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. Archived from the original on 20 September 2013. Retrieved 16 September 2013.
  6. ↑ "Highest airport". Guinness World Records. Archived from the original on 2020-11-01. Retrieved 2020-11-01.
  7. ↑ 稻城亚丁机场今日通航 [Daocheng Yading Airport starts operation today]. Chengdu Business News (in Chinese). 16 September 2013. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. 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