Construction began Tuesday on a new terminal at the Gonggar Airport, 100 kilometers away from Lhasa, capital of China's Tibet Autonomous Region.

The new terminal, located to the west of the former one and covering 14,000 square meters, will cost 120 million yuan (US$ 14.4 million). It is to be completed by June 2003.

Airport sources said the terminal's annual throughput will hit 1.1 million people by 2010.

The splendid landscape of the Tibetan plateau added to the regions mysterious customs have long attracted tourists by the millions. Over half a million visitors came to the region last year and over 5.6 million tourists will flock there in the following five years, according to local tourism administrations.

The old terminal, completed in 1993 and still a busy transportation hub, can hold 600 people at peak periods.

The Gonggar Airport was put into civilian use in 1960 and is capable to land large airplanes such as Boeing 747s.

(People's Daily 10/17/2001)