World’s Highest Airport Begins Construction under CPEC

[Shahzaz ud din]

World’s Highest Airport Begins Construction under CPEC
29/04/2020 admin 0 Comments

• The airport, which will be built at the Pamir Plateau at an elevation of 4,500 meters, is part of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

China has begun the construction of what would be the world’s highest airport on completion, at its northwest Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

The airport, which will be built at the Pamir Plateau at an elevation of 4,500 meters, is part of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

As per Chinese media outlet CGTN, the airport will cost about $230 million, the airport runway will be measuring 3,800 meters long and 45 meters wide, and will have a terminal of 3,000 square meters and an apron with four stands, among other facilities.

Also Read: MPCL invests Rs. 4 million in rehabilitation of water plants in Islamabad

The airport will be able to accommodate 160,000 passengers and 400 tons of cargoes annually. As per building authorities, the airport upon completion is expected to bring a lot more tourists into Pamirs Plateau, noted for its natural beauty and unique Tajik culture, however, it remains inaccessible due to rough terrain. The airport construction is expected to complete by the first half of 2022.

Source

 

[beijingwalker]

Already opened, the speed of the construction is mind blowing
It probably takes only one to two hours flying from Khunjerab Airport to Pakistan's capital Islamabad

 

[beijingwalker]

 

[beijingwalker]

China's airport plan on Pamir plateau near Azad Kashmir worries India​

China's airport plan on Pamir plateau near PoK worries India

China is planning to build its first ever airport in Xinjiang, on the strategically important and high altitude Pamir plateau, close to its border with Pakistan occupied Kashmir (Azad Kashmir).

www.indiatoday.in

 

[beijingwalker]

How hard to build this airport in this harsh, god fobidden land, these early photos look very eerie, like building a moon base in the lifeless land

Tashkurgan Airport is a new airport construction project for Tashkurgan, in Tashkurgan Tajik Autonomous County, Xinjiang, China. The airport will be the first for the region and forms part of a series of infrastructure developments encompassing the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project.

On April 26, 2020, on the Pamirs Plateau in southwestern Xinjiang, the construction of the Tashkurgan Airport road project began, marking the start of the Tashkurgan Airport project on schedule.

Tashkurgan Airport is a key airport construction project of the State, Civil Aviation Administration and the Autonomous Region during the 13th Five-Year Plan period. The total investment of the airport is 1.63 billion yuan. The project construction period is 3 years, and it became operational in June 2022. The airport is located 13 kilometers south of the county seat of Tashkurgan Tajik Autonomous County at an altitude of 3252 meters.

Tashkurgan has high altitude, complex terrain, poor clearance conditions, and bad weather. The designer combined with the experience of site selection and construction of plateau airports in Tibet, Qinghai and other regions, compared, analyzed, and repeated 3 alternative sites within 30 kilometers around the county seat. After demonstrating, Aktamu, which is 13 kilometers away from the county, was determined as the airport site.

Tashkurgan Tajik Autonomous County is rich in tourism resources and enjoys the reputation of "Pearl of the Plateau", but tourists usually need to take a 5-hour bus from Kashgar City to arrive. After the completion of the airport, the route from Tashkurgan to Kashgar, Shache, Urumqi, Yining, Aksu and other cities in Xinjiang will be planned. "You Pamir Plateau will become a new fashion.

After the airport is completed, it will improve traffic conditions in the local and surrounding areas, drive the development of tourism and special industries, and meet the needs of emergency rescue. From now on, people who yearn for the Pamirs can fly to the plateau, overlooking the beautiful views of Muztag Peak, Stone Town, Baisha Lake, etc. from the air.

 

[beijingwalker]

Against all odds, billions of money, braved harsh polar environment, to have built a modern airport for merely thousands of small town folks.

 

[VCheng]

Against all odds, billions of money, braved harsh polar environment, to have built a modern airport for merely thousands of small town folks.

Why not an HSR line?

 

[aziqbal]

the real question is can Uygur Muslims leave from this airport to make their way for Hajj as pilgrims to Makkah?

or is it more Han Chinese coming and destroying local population and traditions

 

[beijingwalker]

the real question is can Uygur Muslims leave from this airport to make their way for Hajj as pilgrims to Makkah?

or is it more Han Chinese coming and destroying local population and traditions

Are you out of your mind? This airport is in a small Tajik border town, why Uyghurs don't fly from much bigger Urumqi or Kashgar airports and have to travel to the deep snow mountains of Tashkrugan on the Pamir Plateau to take a flight? And Urumqi International Airport is the aviation hub in central Asia with flight routes to almost all major cities in the world.

42.11 billion yuan ($6.06 billion) expansion of Urumqi’s airport ( soon to be in full operation )
Aviation hub of Central Asia

 

[beijingwalker]

Current retiring Urumqi international airport

 

[beijingwalker]

China, Pakistan discuss mutually strategic Tashkurgan airport
Chinese officials assured the Pakistani business community and investors that work on the Tashkurgan airport will be accelerated, to give Islamabad a ‘strategically vital’ position against its neighbor

https://thenews21.com/china-pakistan-discuss-mutually-strategic-tashkurgan-airport

 

[beijingwalker]

 

[beijingwalker]

Harsh weather and terrain in this Pamir border region

 

[FuturePAF]

mutually strategic Tashkurgan airport…
to give Islamabad a ‘strategically vital’ position against its neighbor

Many other uses for this air strip as well


If there was a rail line from Xinjiang to the Pakistani rail network that would also be very strategically vital, for investors/shipping companies and tourists. This airport could be good place for Chinese tourists to start their travel on a rail route to Pakistan through Gilgit Baltistan.

 

[beijingwalker]

Many other uses for this air strip as well


If there was a rail line from Xinjiang to the Pakistani rail network that would also be very strategically vital, for investors/shipping companies and tourists. This airport could be good place for Chinese tourists to start their travel on a rail route to Pakistan through Gilgit Baltistan.

A railway line will be very costly to build and maintain, no one has ever built such a line on such a high plateau with perma frost ground, and hunderds of bridges and tunnels also need to be built, besides, Gilgit Baltistan region is very volatile, vulnerable to India's sabotage activities.