At 4:30pm on October 6th, an earthquake measuring 6.6 on the Richter scale struck Dangxiong County, Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region. In response to the earthquake, Air China Tibet Branch took immediate and effective emergency measures to ensure the safety of passengers and employees, and the smooth departures of scheduled flights, on the day.

After the earthquake hit, Air China Tibet Branch carried out timely emergency measures, evacuating cadres and employees from working and living areas, transferring money and important documents to safe locations, ensuring the safety of personnel and company property. Following this, the Branch convened an emergency meeting and launched an emergency pre-plan. It gathered information from the general office of the Party Committee and Government of the Autonomous Regions regarding the situation on the ground and casualty numbers of the disaster-stricken areas, as well as the needs of the local government for disaster relief supplies, ambulance transport and evacuation. The Branch also strengthened its security processes and the coordination of transportation and scheduled operations, as well as taking an active hand in the disaster relief effort: firstly, a 24-hour monitoring system was set up with leaders of the Branch taking on-site duty shifts to reinforce functionality; secondly, daily reports were issued regarding the disaster’s impact in Dangxiong County and Lhasa as well as production and operation security, and were sent to headquarters and the Southwest Branch to enhance the flow of the information reporting system; thirdly, cooperation was strengthened between the Party Committee and Government of the Autonomous Regions and the Tibet Civil Aviation Authority, in addition to a seamless cooperation system being installed among local army forces, troops and local police; fourthly, supervisory control of market sales was set in place to adjust transport capacity according to personnel and supply changes.

After Air China Southwest Branch was informed of the earthquake, it hastily prepared a 319 aircraft, complete with crew, as a back-up for the Lhasa flight. It also arranged for 0ctober 7th flights to transport disaster relief supplies – such as tents – to Lhasa as quickly as possible.

Upon being informed of the disaster, and receiving reports from its Southwest and Tibet Branches, Air China Headquarters immediately convened a 9:00pm video-conference. The conference involved company leaders, commercial committees, operation control center representatives and relevant functional parties of the Southwest and Tibet Branches, who discussed coordination issues and made post-earthquake emergency deployment plans, as follows: safeguard the lives and property of personnel, appropriately arrange cadres to take up posts in Tibet; ensure the supply of rescue workers, money and supplies, to ensure the safety of local personnel and the operational capabilities of the Tibet Branch; The Southwest and Tibet Branches set up an emergency relief group, with General Manger Shi Fu as Commander-in-Chief, tasked with taking charge of the command center and coordination of the disaster relief effort – with Southwest Branch providing the required support. Close attention was paid to the local transportation of both passengers and cargo, and preparations were made for adjustments in transport capacity. Measures were also taken to cooperate with the local government in disaster relief support. Throughout the initial post-earthquake period, Air China showed its true colors as a state-owned enterprise dedicated to social responsibility.

According to sources on the ground, the earthquake didn’t damage the airport facilities in Lhasa, allowing scheduled flight departures throughout the day.