The monopoly enjoyed by China's three major airlines on the nation's most lucrative domestic routes will end by 2010 as part of plans to liberalize the aviation industry, state media reported.

Under the plan, the Civil Aviation Administration of China will lift its control of domestic routes so that carriers can choose which routes they want to fly, the China Daily reported, citing an official with the organization.

Currently the nation's three biggest carriers - Air China, China Eastern and China Southern - have a monopoly on most of the big profit-making routes.

'Liberalization of the air transport services sector is a global trend, and China will follow the trend,' the newspaper quoted the administration's deputy director, Yang Guoqing, as saying as he explained the new plan.

'We have drafted an overall policy (to) strengthen safety controls and gradually loosen other controls.'

The China Daily said removing the monopoly would give a chance for small privately owned airlines and joint ventures to compete with the major carriers on the profitable routes.

China's aviation industry is one of the world's fastest growing. Air passenger traffic in China grew 16.7 pct to 332 mln trips, according to previously released official figures.

But analysts have said that the industry's growth has long been hampered by the government controls over routes, air fares, fuel supply, aircraft purchases and other key components.