CHINA will invest 450 billion yuan (US$62.4b) in expanding its civil airport network by 2020 to enable 82 percent of the country's population to reach an airport within 100 kilometers, the country's civil aviation watchdog said yesterday.

A total of 244 airports will serve the world's second-largest aviation market by 2020, an increase of 97 from 2006, the General Administration of Civil Aviation said in a blueprint which has been approved by the State Council.

The expansion will benefit 80 percent of county-level regions, which will allow people there to reach an airport within a one-and-a-half-hour drive, according to the administration.

Cargo and mail handling volume is expected to grow at an average of 15 percent annually by 2020 for domestic airports, with an 11.4-percent growth of passenger volume.

Airports that are capable of handling more than 30 million passengers annually will grow to 13 from the existing three, and airports handling 20 million to 30 million passengers will increase to six from two, the administration said.

The country will focus on constructing hub airports and improving services. A total of 190 airports will be in use by 2010 with 140-billion-yuan investments.

Rising passenger volume and the strong yuan spurred profits in China's civil aviation industry by 66 percent in the third quarter of last year.

However, some problems still exist such as a lack of professional technicians, limited air space resources and poor airport infrastructure.

The airports can't fulfill the booming market and many regional airports have been saturated, the administration said.

To maintain safety standards, CAAC will suspend the approval of any new airline company application until 2010 and tighten the introduction of new aircraft.