The Chinese authorities are planning to build 70 new airports by 2015 and renovate 101 more, said the head of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) Li Jiaxiang.
According to CAAC, as of the end of last year, China had 180 airports. The Chinese government plans to buy more than 300 new aircraft each year. It is expected that within three years, China’s fleet will exceed four thousand from 1764 (the end of 2011). According to Chinese officials, the country’s aviation market has high potential for growth. Since 2005, this segment of the economy has increased by 17.5 percent.
Earlier on June 11, IATA (International Air Transport Association) released an updated forecast regarding to the ranks of the world’s largest airlines in the current year. Although IATA has increased the forecast for the loss of European carriers from 600 million to $ 1.1 billion, the industry as a whole will register the profit of three billion dollars this year, about two billion dollars of profit will come from the Asia-Pacific region.