Tibet Airlines Grows Market Share to over One Third in Tibet

As many as 1.02 million air passengers traveled in and out of Tibet Autonomous Region on the flights of Tibet Airlines(TV) in January-October 2015, the Lhasa-based carrier said on Thursday.

Tibet Airlines has hit the 1 million passenger mark in the first ten months of the year. The airline said it holds a 32.7% market share in the Tibetan air travel market and has carried more passengers than any other airlines in the region.

Tibet Airlines commenced its operations in July 2011. It is China's first airline based at a high-altitude plateau airport, operating scheduled domestic passenger and cargo service out of Lhasa Gonggar Airport (LXA). The airline has been increasing its market share in the region in the past four years. Currently, Tibet Airlines operates the most routes to and out of Tibet, as well as the most aircraft movements and the largest number of passengers in the region. Meanwhile, it is also the airline with the most aircraft movements and the largest passenger numbers among those operating out of Lhasa Airport.

Statistics shows that Tibet Airport operated the largest number of passengers at Lhasa airport in 2014. Tibet Airlines continues to take the largest market share at Lhasa Airport and the entire region in 2015. In January-October, Tibet Airlines handled 715,828 passengers at Lhasa Airport, accounting for 28.4% of the airport's passenger traffic, followed by Sichuan Airlines with 599,748 (23.8%) and Air China with 514,203 (20.4%).

Meanwhile, Tibet Airlines operated 12,326 aircraft movements at the Tibetan airports, accounting for 40.2% of the total. Air China followed with 6,576 aircraft movements.

After entry into the winter schedule, Tibet Airlines owns a fleet of 15 aircraft and operates 33 routes, 22 of which are Tibetan routes.