Travel

Flights to Tibet are served by Air China (CA) (www air-china.co.uk ), Sichuan Airlines, China Southern and other domestic airlines which fly into Lhasa from Chinese cities and from Kathmandu in Nepal. Tibet Airlines, based in Lhasa, is due to start operations in 2011. High season is June to October, with demand spiking during national holidays in early May and early October.

There are only a couple of domestic flights inside Tibet and very few travellers use them to get around the country. Weekly flights run from Lhasa to Chamdo in the east and to the new airport at Ngari (Ali) in the far west. In general it's better to travel overland in order to help with acclimatisation.

From London to Beijing is approximately 10 hours and from Los Angeles is 12 hours 30 minutes. From Beijing to Chengdu is three hours. From Chengdu to Lhasa is a spectacular 90-minute mountain flight.