Xigaze Peace Airport / Shigatse Air Base — Xigazê (Samzhubzê), China

Perched on the Tibetan plateau at an elevation topping 12,000 feet, RKZ ranks among the highest-altitude commercial airports in the world, and its runway stretches unusually long to compensate for thin air that saps aircraft engine performance at that height. The airport serves Xigaze, also spelled Shigatse, the second-largest city in the Tibet Autonomous Region and a longstanding center of Tibetan Buddhist life. Nearby stands Tashilhunpo Monastery, historic seat of the Panchen Lama. Xigaze has for centuries anchored trade routes connecting Lhasa with Nepal and the high Himalayan passes to the south. RKZ opened in the early 2010s, giving the region an air link that previously depended on long overland journeys across mountain roads. Flights connect Xigaze primarily with Lhasa and other Chinese cities, and the approach offers sweeping views of high desert valleys ringed by snow-dusted peaks.