Ngari Gunsa Airport guide

Ngari Gunsa Airport serves Ngari (Ali) Prefecture in the far west of the Tibet Autonomous Region. The ICAO code is ZUAL. The field sits at 4,274 metres above sea level, among the highest airports in the world, and lies in Günsa Township, well outside the prefecture's main town of Shiquanhe. It is a dual-use airport shared by military and civil traffic.

The airport began operating on 1 July 2010 as the fourth civil airport in Tibet. Its single asphalt runway, 15/33, is 4,500 metres long. The length offsets the thin air at this altitude, which lengthens takeoff and landing runs.

Scheduled flights link Ngari with Lhasa, Xining, Xi'an, Ürümqi, Kashgar and Shache. The airport handled about 190,000 passengers in 2021. Road transfers run to Shiquanhe and on to the Mount Kailash and Lake Manasarovar region, so many travellers arrive here for pilgrimage and trekking trips. Visitors from outside China need a Tibet travel permit and a guided itinerary arranged through a local agency.