Chinese airlines are expected to carry 450 million passengers in 2015, with passenger traffic growing at an annual rate of 11% from now until 2015.
The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), in its latest five-year masterplan on China's aviation sector, expects airline RPKs to increase 13% annually from 2010 to 2015.
Chinese airlines carried 268 million passengers in 2010, says the CAAC.
Cargo volumes are expected to grow 10% annually to nine million tonnes in 2015 from 5.6 million tonnes in 2010, it adds.
The CAAC also aims to increase the number of airports in the country to at least 230 in 2015 from 175. This will help serve 83% of the country's population, it says.
While airports in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou will serve as the country's three main hubs, the CAAC says it plans to strengthen the capacity of other airports in China so that they can serve as regional hubs. These include airports in Chengdu, Xian, and Xiamen.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
