Construction began on Thursday on what will be the world's second highest airport in Kangding, a predominantly Tibetan region in southwest China's Sichuan Province.

The airport will stand 4,280 meters above sea level, second in height only to the airport in Qamdo, Tibet.

With a budget of 960 million yuan (about US$120 million), the new airport will have a 4,000-meter-long runway and will be capable of handling planes such as the Boeing 737-700 series and Airbus 319s, according to Wu Hesheng, general manager of the Zhongnan Airports Construction Corporation, builder of the Kangding airport.

Plans for the airport were first drawn up 13 years ago but the go-ahead for the construction by the state was only given last May. It will begin service in 2008 and is designed to handle 330,000 passengers and 1,980 tons of cargo and mail annually.

Due to its rough terrain and high altitudes, the western region of Sichuan was notorious for being difficult to access in ancient times.

Li Bai, a famed poet from the Tang Dynasty (618-907), wrote that traveling in Shu State (present-day Sichuan Province) was more difficult than going to the heaven.

(Xinhua News Agency September 7, 2006)