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Today I tell you what are the reasons why planes and flights avoid flying over Tibet and its enormous mountains.
The other day I saw a very interesting image on social media and they were talking about why planes don't fly over Tibet and that huge mountain range., I thought it was a very interesting topic that I had never covered before on the blog..
Really, do they avoid flying there? As for flying over, bone pass over the mountains as such, Yes, but there are flights that connect the few airports in that huge area.
With this context, Let's talk about the reasons why planes they avoid overfly those high mountains, maybe for some of you it is very logical, but it never hurts to review it in more depth.
Why don't planes fly over Tibet??
On other occasions we have spoken on airplane contrails, the reason why airplanes try to fly as high as possible and various topics air safety, but today's topic is very curious and undoubtedly striking..
Tibet is a region of Asia central with a surface of 1,2 million square kilometers HUGE! and a population of more than 3 millions of inhabitants. Nevertheless, despite its size and population, Tibet is one of the most inaccessible regions in the world by air.
You will surely remember images of Flight Radar 24 where there is talk of "no-overflight zones" as is the case of Ukraine and surroundings that at this moment is closed air space because of the armed conflict and Tibet looks the same, as if no one could do it.
The main reason for this situation is the altitude. The Tibet region has an average altitude of 4.900 meters, and some of its highest peaks exceed 8.800 meters, As the Everest.
The vast majority of passenger aircraft can fly without problems at altitudes above 5.000 meters. Nevertheless, in case of emergency, Planes must descend to a lower altitude so that passengers can breathe normally, which in practice says it should be 3.048 meters above the ground where we can breathe calmly without need to oxygen masks.
In Tibet, Most of the surface is located at altitudes higher than 3.000 meters, which means that in case of emergency, The planes would not have room to descend to a safe altitude.
For this reason, most international flights not destined for one of the eight Tibetan airports avoid flying over the region. Instead, They choose to make a detour through India or Nepal, They literally go around the high mountains, so that in case of a emergency can be diverted to lower areas and with more alternatives for a landing without setbacks.
Another difficulty is the turbulence which is a meteorological phenomenon that can cause strong shaking to an airplane. Usually, Turbulence is more frequent in mountainous areas due to the sudden changes in wind that can be generated to the east, hitting elevations or ravines., and the Tibet mountain range is a region prone to turbulence by meeting all these conditions.
This air accessibility problem has a significant impact on the development of Tibet. The region is rich in natural resources, but its isolation makes it difficult to transport goods and people, although famous airport like Lukla They allow adventure tourism in the area with great importance.
Currently, There are two major airports in Tibet that are open to international commercial flights.. These airports are Lhasa Gonggar International Airport (LXAG) and Nyingchi Mainling International Airport (ZYCC). Both airports are located at an altitude of more than 4.000 meters.
In recent years, The construction of a new airport in Tibet that would be located at a lower altitude has been proposed, which would make it more accessible for commercial aircraft. Nevertheless, There are still no concrete plans for the construction of this airport that could serve as an alternative in emergency situations of planes flying over the area..
What did you think of this information??
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