Airport near China's world heritage site resumes int'l air routes

Tourists visit the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang, northwest China's Gansu Province, May 11, 2023. (Xinhua/Ma Xiping)

LANZHOU, Dec. 25 (Xinhua) -- Dunhuang mogao international airport, located near the Mogao Grottoes, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in northwest China, officially resumed international air routes on Sunday.

A tourist charter flight from Jakarta, Indonesia, arrived at the airport at 7:20 a.m. on Sunday. This was the first inbound international tourist charter flight at the airport this year.

Eight flights will ply the Indonesia (Jakarta)-Kunming-Dunhuang air route from Dec. 24, 2023 to Jan. 5, 2024, operated by Batik Air. Nearly 600 tourists from Indonesia are expected to travel to Dunhuang by the tourist charter flights.

The airport also plans to open routes linking China's Hong Kong, Seoul of the Republic of Korea, and Vietnam's Nha Trang for tourists in 2024.

Dunhuang is known for its UNESCO-listed Mogao Grottoes, which contain some of China's most important collections of ancient Buddhist art. Each year, the caves draw a large number of tourists from home and abroad.