China is looking to build its first permanent airfield in Antarctica, which will serve the five stations it has on the continent. Such a strip will allow the PLA’s largest planes to take off and land without modifications. The new strip is based on “blue ice,” areas where there is a hard surface and no net loss or gain of snow, rather than snow-based runways that require special ski landing equipment not usable by the largest cargo planes in use. Other countries currently have 8 blue ice runways in the Antarctic.
Source: China identifies site for heavy duty Antarctic airstrip | Asia Times
