China plans to buy 218 aircraft this year, including jumbo jets and regional planes, to meet surging demand, said Li Jiaxiang, director of the Civil Aviation Administration of China.

A total of 700m passenger trips a year are expected to be made by 2020, and that number is likely to double by 2030. Last year, there were 230m passenger trips in China, and cargo freight volume stood at 4.46m tonnes, Xinhua reported. This year both amounts are estimated to grow by 12 per cent, Mr Li said.

China built and upgraded 22 airports in 2009 and Rmb90bn will be invested in 25 airport expansion projects this year.