Tibet Airlines plans to put 18 additional air routes into operation during the forthcoming summer season to provide more options for passengers and promote tourism in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, according to the company.

The new air routes will link Tibet's capital city Lhasa with cities across China, including Xining in Qinghai Province; Kunming, Dali and Lijiang in Yunnan Province; Jinan in Shandong Province; Xiamen in Fujian Province and Jiuzhaigou in Sichuan Province.

Due to the novel coronavirus outbreak, this year's summer season for national civil aviation falls from May 3 to October 24. Tibet Airlines will offer a total of 66 air routes during this period.

Wang Songping, director of the regional tourism department, said that although the tourism sector in Tibet was severely affected by the COVID-19 epidemic, it has started to pick up as the epidemic abated. The region plans to launch quality travel routes in an effort to promote the recovery of its rural tourism and increase local people's income.

So far, a number of natural scenic sites have reopened to tourists in the area, including the Lake Namtso. However, indoor sites, such as the renowned Potala Palace, will remain closed until further notice.

More than 40 million tourists from home and abroad visited Tibet in 2019, up 19 percent year on year, generating a revenue of over 55.92 billion yuan (7.89 billion U.S. dollars), according to local authorities.

(Cover image: A Tibet Airlines aircraft takes off at Ngari Gunsa Airport in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, April 8, 2019. /VCG)