Hainan to build more regional airports

Hainan Province will construct new regional airports under China’s 11th Five-Year Plan, according to Vice Minister Yang Guoqing of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC). Yang disclosed the plan at the 2007 Regional Asia: The Intra-Regional Route Development Forum held from March 25-27 in Heikou, Hainan. More than 300 delegates from 36 countries, 102 airlines, and more than 60 airports and civil aviation consultation units worldwide attended the forum. Governor Luo Baoming of Hainan province and Yang attended the opening ceremony. China plans to construct about 200 regional airports between now and 2010. In west China, 37 new airports will be built, six airports relocated and 31 existing ones expanded and rehabilitated. Last October, Hainan Airlines and Embraer signed an agreement for the purchase of 100 regional jets worth RMB 2.7 billion (US$349 million). Chen Feng, chairman of Hainan Airlines Group, said these jets are being produced in China. By the end of the year, four regional jets will be put into operation.