CHINA has been making good progress in building an airport in Mohe, its northernmost county on the Sino-Russian border, with flights expected to start in June 2008 to give local tourism a fillip.

The airport, which broke ground a year ago, is situated 10 kilometers from the Mohe county seat. It will be the only airport in this remote county in the extreme north of China, 100 kilometers from the Sino-Russian border.

Construction of the terminal and the runway is in full swing, said the airport builders.

To overcome problems of unstable tundra on the runway, workers have dug to a depth of 4.8 meters to root out permanent tundra, pouring in special sand as a refill to provide a stable runway base for safe landing and takeoffs.

The airport - one of Heilongjiang Province's key construction projects for 2006-2010 period - was approved in December 2004.

The airport is located in the southwestern part of Mohe County about nine kilometers from the county seat.

The airport, which is expected to give a fillip to local tourism, is being built at an estimated cost of 238 million yuan (US$31 million).

The new airport is designed to handle short-haul planes, with flights from Harbin, capital of Heilongjiang Province, and other nearby cities.