Five Tibetans made history by formally joining Air China (Holdings) Southwest Subsidiary on Monday after having obtained co-pilot licenses for flying Airbus A-319 planes.

Tibetan pilots have natural aptitudes which include a greater capacity to fly plateau air routes, said Wang Taotao, who is in charge of the No.4 Brigade of the Chengdu flight department with Air China (Holdings) Southwest Subsidiary.

The Tibetans, who were recruited from the Tibet Agriculture and Animal Husbandry College based in Nyingchi, Tibet, and from Northwest China Nationality College in Lanzhou, capital of northwest China's Gansu Province, in June 2001, spent three and a half years studying cargo plane navigation at CAAC Guanghan Flight College and an extra year on probation with the Chengdu flight department of Air China (Holdings) Southwest Subsidiary.

They all passed the air service English test organized by General Administration of Civil Aviation of China (CAAC), said sources from Air China (Holdings) Southwest Subsidiary, with headquarters in Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province.

Air China (Holdings) Southwest Subsidiary will import five Airbus A-319 plateau passenger planes and will start new air routes to Nyingchi, eastern Tibet, in the first half of the year, according to Wang.

(Xinhua News Agency January 25, 2006)