Mount Wutai Airport Expected to Open by Year's End

An  airport on Mount Wutai near the city of Xinzhou, Shanxi province had in its first test run on Oct 5, which will be followed by a check of navigation equipment, lighting, and flight procedures by the civil aviation authority so that it could be open to traffic by the end of this year, giving the famous Buddhist holy site and world heritage site a real tourism boost.

The airport could also transform the province's economic development and industrial structure, as well as the tourism, and will be an important way to develop regional aviation transportation. The airport has dual a civil and military use and covers a more than 13,000-square-meter area, with a 2,600-m-long runway so that it can handle a Boeing 737 and large passenger planes for its five gates.