This is why airplanes don’t fly over Tibetan Plateau

Did you know that airplanes don't fly over Tibet? There is no such political reason involved instead the gigantic mountain ranges which are extraordinarily high. The Tibetan Plateau also known as “roof of the world”.  

Higher mountain peaks 

The height of the Tibetan Plateau makes it dangerous for the airplanes to fly over it. An airline worker, Tim Hibbetts, started a discussion on a social media platform and said that this is that part of the world, where average height of “low” areas is 12,000 feet. This becomes a problem for the airlines as they have only 20 minutes of oxygen for passengers if decompression arises in the plane.  

He continues to write that being such a large landscape with rugged terrain, it was impossible for people to escape in case of emergency landings, which are required at 10,000 ft. Tibet's thin air, at an average elevation of 14,800 feet, affects engine performance and decreases efficiency, making the airline's route more difficult. 

High turbulence 

Another possible reason is clear air turbulence, which can’t be seen. Jet streams or unstable air pockets are typically associated with it. The mountain's disruption of airflow produces eddies, which can be extremely turbulent if you're flying through them. Since clear air turbulence isn't very common above the Tibetan Plateau, the only way to predict it is by looking at other aircraft's experiences. 

Weather in Tibet also plays a key role in making the situations for airplanes dangerous. Apart from turbulence, strong winds and unpredictable storms are other weather conditions which deter the path. Navigation and radar coverage is also very limited which becomes a huge challenge for the safety of flights.  

There are some political restrictions like airspace and regulatory complexities which force planes to take an alternative route around Tibet. As airplanes have heavy security policies and rules in place, planes avoid taking such risks of massive scale.  

However, Tibet does have few airports, above 3,500 metres, for planes to land in a very dire emergency.  One such is Paro Airport in Bhutan. This airport is believed to handle 30,000 visitors annually.