Construction is ongoing for Beijing's second international airport, which is expected to be completed by June 2019. (Photo : www.airport-technology.com)
China is ready to invest 77 billion yuan ($11.7 billion) for the construction of civil aviation infrastructure, particularly airports, this year, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) announced in a statement.
In a report by China Daily, the agency said it will step up construction of important new airports, as well as those in Beijing, Dalian, Qingdao, Chengdu and Xiamen.
According to the agency's statement, China will start work on 11 key infrastructure projects and 52 upgrades or expansion work on civil aviation facilities this year.
The CAAC also reported that the work on Beijing's second international airport, considered the largest construction project in the country's civil aviation history, is well under progress.
The report said that construction work on the terminal and air traffic control facilities began in September last year, while construction of support facilities will start in June this year.
Beijing's second international airport is expected to be completed in June 2019 and will become operational in December that year, the agency said.
The civil aviation agency added that it will work with the National Development and Reform Commission, the country's top economic planner, for the release of a blueprint this year for the locations of new civil airports that will be built before 2030.
Dong Zhiyi, a deputy director at the administration, said that 66 new civil airports are planned to be built in the next five years, increasing the number of airports on the Chinese mainland from 206 to 272.
The report said that the rising demand for air travel has spurred the development of more airports.
The National Tourism Administration said that Chinese travelers have made more than 4 billion trips to domestic destinations last year, with 120 million trips abroad, an increase of 16 percent year on year.
The CAAC said that Chinese made 440 million trips by air last year and the figure is predicted to rise to 485 million this year.
Jiang Yiyi, director of the China Tourism Academy's International Tourism Development Institute, said that Chinese are expected to take more than 130 million outbound trips this year, a year-on-year rise of 10 percent.
The agency said that aside from building new airports, the government also plans to increase the number of international air routes in China to satisfy the increasing demand for overseas trips.
Li Jiaxiang, CAAC director, said that the agency will assist domestic and foreign airlines to open more than 200 new international routes this 2016.
