"RKZ" redirects here. For the football club, see RKZVC.

Rikaze (Shigatse) Peace Airport (IATA: RKZ, ICAO: ZURK), Shigatse Heping Airport, or Shigatse Air Base, is a dual-use military and civilian airport serving Shigatse, the second largest city in Tibet Autonomous Region, China. It is located in Jangdam Township,[2] 43 kilometres (27 mi) from Shigatse. Situated at an elevation of 3,782 metres (12,408 ft), it is one of the highest airports in the world.[2]

Construction of Shigatse Airport started in 1968 and was completed in 1973. It was solely for military use until 2010, when a 532 million yuan expansion was completed. On 30 October 2010, the airport was opened as the fifth civilian airport in Tibet.[3]

Facilities

The airport has a 5,000-metre (16,000 ft) runway with a 60-metre (200 ft) asphalt overrun at each end. It is the longest public runway in the world (tied with Ulyanovsk Vostochny Airport).[4] It also features a 4,500-square-metre (48,000 sq ft) terminal building. It is projected to handle 230,000 passengers and 1,150 tonnes (1,130 long tons; 1,270 short tons) of cargo annually by 2020.[3][1]

Around 2017, a new runway of approximately 3,000 metres (9,840 ft) was constructed. Guizhou WZ-7 Soaring Dragon UAVs were seen hosted by this runway. The runway is located at the west-end of its primary runway.[5]

Gallery

  • Inside the terminal
    Inside the terminal
  • Airport taxiways
    Airport taxiways
  • Airport taxiways
    Airport taxiways
  • Airport terminal (a view from tarmac)
    Airport terminal (a view from tarmac)
  • Satellite view of the airport (2017)
    Satellite view of the airport (2017)

Airlines and destinations

AirlinesDestinations
China Eastern Airlines Xi'an
Tibet Airlines Chengdu–Shuangliu, Xi'an
West Air Chongqing[6]

Map and location markers

Map
About OpenStreetMaps
Maps: terms of use
300m
330yds
none
4
3
2
1
  
Key:
1
Runway 1 (16,404ft)
2
Runway 2 (9,843ft)
3
Main Terminal
4
Air Traffic Control tower

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Airport information for Shigatse Airport at Great Circle Mapper.
  2. ^ a b 西藏第五个民用机场日喀则机场正式通航 (in Chinese (China)). Xinhua. 2010-10-30. Archived from the original on November 2, 2010.
  3. ^ a b 西藏第五个民用机场日喀则机场正式通航 (in Chinese (China)). Xinhua. 2010-10-30. Archived from the original on November 2, 2010.
  4. ^ Loh, Chris; Ahlgren, Linnea (2020-07-27). "What Are The Longest Runways In The World?". Simple Flying. Retrieved 2024-01-10.
  5. ^ Team, Bellingcat Investigation (2017-11-28). "China's Shigatse Gets New Infrastructure". bellingcat. Retrieved 2024-01-10.
  6. ^ "China West Air flight PN6450". Flightradar24.