Nagri(Ali) Gunsa Airport

Nagri(Ali) Gunsa Airport

Nagri Gunsa Airport is located 45 kilometers southwest of Shiquanhe Town. It opened on July 1, 2010. Nagri Gunsa Airport took four years to complete. The airport is one of the high altitude airports that serves the high-profile aircraft take-off and landing. Currently, visitors can fly to Ali from Lhasa, Urumqi and Kashgar.

IATA airport code: NGQ

ICAO airport code: ZUAL

English name: Nagri Gunsa Airport

Altitude: 4, 274

Address: Gunsa Township, Muir County, Ali Area, Tibet

Connecting cities: Lhasa, Urumqi

Ali Gunsa Airport Overview

As a military-civilian dual-use airport, Nagri Gunsa Airport is the fourth civilian airport in Tibet after Lhasa Gongga Airport, Changdu Bangda Airport and Nyingchi Mainling Airport. At 4,274 meters above sea level, Nagri Gunsa Airport is the fourth highest airport in the world. It has a 4,500-meter runway and a 3,900-square-meter terminal. Nagri Gunsa Airport began construction in May 2007 and began operations in 2010. By 2020, the annual throughput is expected to reach 120,000.

The significance of building Nagri Gunsa Airport

With the construction of Nagri Gunsa Airport, Mt. Kailash and Lake Manasarovar can all be accessed by air traffic. Ali has a lot of special natural scenery and cultural attractions, but nothing is more influential than the Gangrenboqi Mountain and Lake Manasarovar. Gang Rinpoqi Mountain is considered to be the hometown of Demchok, and the Mabian Lake is one of the three holy lakes and is regarded as the mother of the Holy Lake. In addition to the status of Buddhism, the Gang Rinpoqi Mountain and the Malang Lake are also showing amazing scenery.

After the completion of Nagri Gunsa Airport, Ali’s economy and tourism developed rapidly. Ali is located in a remote area at an altitude of 4,500 meters in the northwest of Tibet, about 1,600 kilometers west of Lhasa. Due to the special environment and inconvenient transportation, the life of the locals is really difficult to develop. However, with the start of the operation of Nagri Gunsa Airport, many resources were introduced to Ali.

Domestic transfer or arrival to Ali

At present, Ali Airport only has direct flights to Lhasa, Urumqi and Kashgar. If you want to travel to mainland China, it is very convenient to fly to Lhasa from Beijing, Chengdu, Xi'an, Shanghai, Kunming, etc., then you can transfer to Ali.

Flights between Lhasa and Ali

There are two direct flights between Lhasa and Ali every day. One is TV9807, taking off from Lhasa Gongga International Airport at 07:00 and arriving at Nagri Gunsa Airport at 09:00. The other is the TV9808 with a flight time of 2 hours and 5 minutes. See the chart below for details.

Flights between Urumqi to Ali via Kashi

There are two flights between Urumqi and Ali via Kashgar, one flight from Urumqi Diwopu International Airport to Nagri Gunsa Airport on the 8L9681 flight and the other on the 8L9682 flight in the opposite direction. It takes 1 hour and 55 minutes from Urumqi to Kashgar, and 1.5 hours to stay in Ali after 45 minutes in Kashgar. The journey takes approximately 4 hours and 10 minutes. Both flights are operated by Xiangpeng Airlines.

Arrive or transfer from Nagri Gunsa Airport

Nagri Gunsa Airport is 200 km from Tachin (about 4.5 hours drive), and Tachin is the starting point for the pilgrimage to Mt. Gangrenboqi. As Ali's transportation route is still under construction, there is currently no train or shuttle bus. Car rental has always been the most popular way for travelers. For foreigners, you must travel with your local travel agent and use a local car.

Apart from Nagri Gunsa Airport, what airport can I fly to?

- There are a total of five airports in Tibet. In addition to Lhasa Gongga Airport, you can also fly to Shigatse, Nyingchi, Ali and Changdu. But only a few cities in China operate flights in these areas.

- - Lhasa - There are more than 20 direct flights between Lhasa and Chengdu, Chongqing, Beijing, Guangzhou, Xi'an, Xiahe and Yushu.

- - Shigatse – There aredaily flights between Chengdu and Shigatse. The name of the airport is Shigatse Peace Airport, approximately 46 km from downtown Shigatse.

- - Nyingchi - Chengdu usually provides 4 morning flights to the Milin Airport in Nyingchi. At the same time, there are also a morning flight to Nyingchi from Chongqing three days each week. If you are from Nyingchi to Lhasa, it is recommended to fly from Chengdu or Chongqing. You can also fly out of Tibet directly fromNychingchi.

- - Changdu – There are flights from Chongqing and Chengdu to Changdu Tibet every day. But few tourists choose this line because Changdu is not a popular tourist city in Tibet.