CAAC reports 106 foreign airlines offers 2,224 weekly flights to China

THE Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) reports there are 106 foreign air carriers offering 2,224 flights to 37 Chinese cities every week, Xinhua reports.

CAAC's figures also show that China has entered bilateral air traffic agreement with 114 countries and regions in the world.

CAAC deputy director Xia Xinghua said China's air market has kept an active and open attitude towards foreign airlines. CAAC has also insisted on the principle of open-up market when negotiating with other countries on bilateral air traffic rights.

Mr Xia said China's air traffic is very busy, especially in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Hangzhou lines, where the heavy pressure is hard to be relieved in the near future. This situation has caused slower growths of passenger and passenger throughput in eastern China's busiest airports than the national average. On the other hand, in airports in central and western regions, where capacity is abundant, throughputs were undergoing fast growth.

Mr Xia said many foreign carriers want to increase their flights to Chinese cities but the busy traffic in China has hindered the further open-up of the market. This will affect the efficiency and quality of their services. Mr Xia encourages foreign and Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan carriers to cooperate with Chinese ones on code sharing as a solution.