China discovers ideal blue ice sheet for building airport in Antarctic

A Chinese research team has discovered a potential airfield location in the Antarctic as it spots a large sheet of blue ice perfect for aircraft to make take-offs and landings.

The spot is located about 10 kilometers (6 miles) from a research base camp of China in the South Pole.

All kinds of large aircraft can make their take-off and landing on a blue ice airport without transforming their landing gears, according to Sun Bo, the leader of China's 35th Antarctic research expedition team.

"Blue ice provides good bearing capacity, high resistance and stability for planes," said Sun.

There are currently eight blue ice airfields in the South Pole, yet China owns zero in terms of permanent airports.