Flights to Tibet

Not really. Inside the Tibet train, the air is filled with manmade oxygen starting from Xining Station, of which can't help you acclimatize the high altitude gradually as you being led to believe.

Compared with taking a train, saving much time is the biggest advantage of taking a flight to Tibet, especially for those travelers who have a tight schedule. Nowadays, “time is money”, is true for most people. After working ass-off for only a one-week or 10-day vacation, you want to get to Tibet directly rather than spending much time on the way. Taking a train to Lhasa usually takes 21~40 hours from a Chinese gateway city. In response to market demands, 18 cities in China have offered direct flights to Tibet. Most of them are the mighty gateways of China, such as Beijing- the capital of China, Shanghai- the financial center, Chengdu- the land of abundance, Xi’an- the starting city of the Silk Road, etc. There're many direct flights per day to Tibet in those top cities. So, it’s convenient to reach Tibet by air wherever you are in China. And if you travel to Tibet from Nepal, you can also take the direct flight from Tribhuvan International Airport, which is 6km away from the downtown of Kathmandu. There are 1 or 2 direct flights to Lhasa each day.

Of course, your original passport is the first important document.

Secondly, you must get some necessary permits for your Tibet tours, such as Tibet Travel Permit, Alien’s Travel Permit, Tibet Military Permit, etc. Except for the Tibet Travel Permit, which is a basic document, the other permits depend on your travel destinations. For Tibet Travel Permit, the request is different from the place where you enter Tibet. To obey the regulation of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), foreigners must provide the original Tibet Travel Permit when boarding the domestic flights to Tibet. But the scanned copy of Tibet Travel Permit is acceptable when taking flight from Kathmandu. Your Tibetan tour guide will bring the original one to get you released from the Lhasa airport.

Thirdly, Chinese Visa. Here are two situations as well. One, flying to Tibet from inbound China, you have to apply for a Chinese Visa in your country. Two, flying to Tibet from Kathmandu, in this case, you don’t need to apply for Chinese Visa by yourself but China Group Visa. Because according to the government’s policy, you have to get China Group Visa issued in Nepal to enter Tibet.  Even if you have already obtained China Visa, it will be canceled in Nepal. What you should do is to give your passport to the Nepali agent when arriving in Kathmandu and waiting for 2-3 days to get the China Group Visa. 

The answer is no doubt a YES. With the development of tourism, Tibet has become a hot destination for travelers. The demands of marketing have been increasing a lot that makes the tickets hard to buy, even if the price is relatively high. Therefore, you'd better book the flight tickets in advance, especially during the peak season, generally from July to October. Great Tibet Tour will help you book flights once you are engaged with us. Please do not hesitate to contact us for flight information.