CAAC attempts to solve surface puzzle

摘要

Air traffic management (ATM) enhancements in China are essential to improve poor flight punctuality, which has unleashed a wave of disquiet from the travelling public, and to manage planned airport expansion. Under the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20), the government is constructing a nationwide network of regional airports to serve fast-growing provincial cities. By 2020, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) hopes to operate a total of 290 commercial airports (by 1 January 2018 there were 229). In 2017, four more Chinese airports exceeded 10 million passengers, bringing the national total to 32. CAAC chief Feng Zheng-lin and China Southern Airlines Chairman Wang Chang Shun predict that air passenger volume will double between 2020 and 2035. Speaking during the 2018 National People's Congress in March, Feng added that "equality of access" to air travel is part of a government policy to reduce inequality and poverty. Its long-term aim is to build airport infrastructure in all 2,800 counties.