By Hao Zhou (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2007-08-06 14:54

China is to have 1,550 civil airplanes by 2010, an annual growth rate of 12 percent from 2006. Meanwhile, turnover in civil air transport will rise 14 percent on average, according to the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China.

By the end of last year, there were 1,039 registered transport aircrafts, an increase of 15.57 percent from a year before, a 149 percent rise from a decade ago.

At the same time, air transportation covered a total of 30.1 billion ton-kilometers, up 15.2 percent from 2005. Some 160 million passengers traveled by plane, up 15 percent, while a total 43.41 million tons of cargo were transitted via air, up 11.2 percent.

Statistics from the International Civil Aviation Organization suggested that China's civil aviation turnover became the second largest in the world in 2005. Furthermore, between 2001 and 2005, China enjoyed annual increases of 15.3 percent, 15.5 percent, and 13.8 percent respectively in terms of overall air traffic, passenger, and cargo transportations.