Performers give a dance performance beside a plane of the Tibet Airlines which prepares to take off at the Lhasa Gonggar Airport, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, July 26, 2011. (Xinhua)

LHASA, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Both the passenger and cargo throughput of airports in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region hit new highs this year, according to the region's civil aviation authorities Thursday.

Tibet handled 25,116 landings and take-offs from January to June, up 10.3 percent year on year. Together they carried more than 2.7 million passengers, 7.2 percent more than the previous year. Cargo throughput also increased by 9.7 percent during the same period to 18,835.2 tonnes.

The plateau region has opened seven new air routes to more inland cities including Hefei, Jinan and Hohhot since 2019, bringing its operating routes to 98. The number of cities linked to Tibet via air reached 51.