Photo by Keith Chan
Within the next three years, China will be establishing 70 new airports as part of a large-scale plan to expand the aviation industry despite the economic slowdown.
As pointed out by Li Jianxiang, the head of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), this idea to build more airports in the country is based on its significant increase in the fleet – after settling a plan to buy more than 300 carriers in a span of five years.
Li added during the annual general meeting of IATA that aside from the plan to construct new airports, the old ones will be expanded and improved. This arrangement would give China more than 230 flight hubs by 2015, to cater to the 4,700 planes which are expected to be owned by the nation by then.
This ambitious move was set after IATA head Tony Tyler revealed that the global profits from airlines would most likely decrease due to the skyrocketing oil prices and various crises. Although the industry in the Asia Pacific is expected to receive a total of US$2 billion in gains, it is still less than half of the income received in 2011.
The group did not provide any prognosis to the Chinese market, especially since it has been a constant favorite of travelers and the Chinese people love travelling. However, the slowing economic growth of China (along with India) can be partly blamed.
In the first quarter of 2012, China’s economy raised only 8.1%. It is the slowest pace in three years.
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