Tibet receives 2.76 mln air passengers in 2013

Southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region received a record 2.76 million air passengers in 2013, up 24.4 percent from the previous year, according to the regional civil aviation authorities on Thursday.

Tibet opened 13 new air routes last year, bringing the total number in the region to 48 and the number of cities linked with Tibet to 29.

The decreasing number of days with sandy weather in recent years has contributed to the increasing air passenger traffic, said Sonam Tsephel, an official with the regional capital Lhasa's Gonggar Airport.

The number of sandy days in Gonggar County, where the airport is, was about 206 in the 1980s but dropped to 100 between 2001 and 2010, according to statistics from the regional meteorological bureau.

The annual passenger volume of Gonggar Airport, which was opened in 1965, surpassed 1 million in 2006 and 2 million in 2013. It is expected to exceed 3 million in 2014, according to civil aviation authorities.

"Sound social stability and economic development have attracted more tourists to Tibet," said Tsephel.