The Tibetan Plateau is a massive, remote, and inhospitable region that poses significant challenges to air travel. Due to its extreme altitude, harsh weather conditions, and lack of emergency airports, most international flights between Eastern Asia and the West avoid flying over the plateau. The risks of emergency situations, such as cabin depressurization or engine failure, are too great, and the consequences of a crash would be catastrophic. Additionally, the region's sparse population and limited air traffic demand make it an unattractive route for airlines.
Historically, the Tibetan Plateau has been a significant obstacle to aviation, with many planes and lives lost during World War II when the Allies attempted to airlift supplies into China. Today, while there are some international airports on the plateau, they are mostly used for domestic flights, and long-haul international flights prefer to fly around the region to minimize risks.
The four primary reasons why airlines avoid flying over the Tibetan Plateau are:
1. High risk during emergency situations
2. Lack of demand due to sparse population
3. Bad turbulence
4. Risk of jet fuel freezing
Overall, the Tibetan Plateau remains one of the most remote and inhospitable regions on Earth, and airlines take necessary precautions to avoid flying over it to ensure passenger safety.
1. Airplanes can travel for thousands of kilometers across the world.
2. Rockets have landed men on the moon and Elon Musk wants to land men on Mars within the next couple years.
3. The Tibetan Plateau is the highest geographic region in the world, with an average elevation of over 4,500 meters.
4. The Tibetan Plateau is the least hospitable place for humans to live in the entire world and is the most sparsely populated.
5. The Tibetan Plateau spans across seven countries and covers an area over five times the size of France.
6. The population of the Tibetan Plateau is approximately 14 million people.
7. The first large-scale attempt to fly across the Tibetan Plateau was during World War II when the Allies needed to airlift supplies into China.
8. 594 planes and 1,659 men were lost in the mountains during the attempt to fly across the Tibetan Plateau during World War II.
9. The loss in life for the Allied air crews flying across the Tibetan Plateau was even higher than during the entire Battle of Britain.
10. The first airport in Chinese Tibet was built in 1956, and the modern airport in the Tibetan capital Lhasa was built in 1965.
11. There are two significant international airports located on the Tibetan Plateau, in Lhasa and Jining.
12. Lhasa airport has a single international flight to Kathmandu, while Jining airport has flights to Taipei, Tokyo, and Kuala Lumpur.
13. The average elevation of the Tibetan Plateau is over 14,000 feet.
14. Airline protocol is to descend down to 10,000 feet in a cabin depressurization scenario, but this is not possible over the Tibetan Plateau due to its high elevation.
15. The Tibetan Autonomous Region in China has a population of just over 3 million people, which is 0.2% of China's total population.
16. The Tibetan Plateau covers almost 13% of China's total land area.
17. Jet fuel can freeze when the temperature gets below minus 40 Celsius.
18. The temperatures in the air above the Tibetan Plateau can get to minus 40 Celsius or worse, posing a risk to jet fuel freezing.
19. The Tibetan Plateau is a remote and sparsely populated area, making it difficult for emergency services to respond in the event of an emergency.
20. The risk of turbulence and jet fuel freezing are additional reasons why airplanes avoid flying over the Tibetan Plateau.