Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in northwest Yunnan will substantially expand its air service by 25.2% in the coming months to make it further connected to more major Chinese cities, according a CAAC coordination meeting in north China’s Shangdong Province on February 21-25.  

The Yunnan branch of China Eastern Airlines will launch the Guangzhou-Diqing direct flight by the end of March, and the Headquarters of China Eastern Airlines will open the Shanghai-Diqing air route in late May or early June.

The existing Shenzhen-Diqing direct flights will be operated on daily basis, while Tibet Airlines plans to open the Lhasa-Dingqing round-trip route by the end of March, in an effort to make Diqing bettered linked to Tibet.

With air service covering the first-tier cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, Diqing Airport, the second largest airport in the Tibetan area, will see around 20 landings and take-offs daily during the coming summer, spurring high-quality growth in economy and tourism in the prefecture.

Reporting by Li Hengqiang; trans-editing by Wang Shixue