A Historic Leap

Targeted programs help Tibet emerge from poverty

-  Li Nan

In 1965 when southwest China’s Tibet Autonomous Region was founded, there were only a few special flights to the Roof of the World. And it was a no-fly zone for helicopters due to the bad weather and complicated terrain.

But 55 years later, Tibet has 120 regular domestic and international air routes and dozens of ethnic Tibetan civil helicopter pilots.

In 2018, 23-year-old Gyatso became the first ethnic Tibetan civil helicopter pilot in China thanks to a free training program offered to youngsters from impoverished families.

A dream come true

One of the four children born into a farmer’s family in Lhasa, Gyatso had never thought he could ever become a pilot. The opportunity came in 2016, when it was decided to build a civil helicopter base for sightseeing and emergency rescue in Lhasa as part of a program to assist Tibet’s development. Local pilots and maintenance personnel were needed for the base and the Lhasa City Government teamed up with Ruoer General Aviation Development Group (RGAD), one of the earliest private companies engaged in aviation and airport construction in China, to offer free training to 28 candidates.

Gyatso, then a senior computer major at Tibet University, passed the selection test and was signed up to learn flying in RGAD’s training base in the eastern province of Jiangsu. “I just couldn’t believe it. I learned from the Internet that the training fee for a pilot is more than 1 million yuan ($146,252). How could I do it?” Gyatso said.