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China expects domestic air travel to grow 10% in 2009

By Wang Xu and Zheng Lifei (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2009-03-04 14:05

China's aviation industry is expected to post at least 10 percent growth in its domestic passenger traffic this year thanks to government efforts to boost the economy, while international traffic is likely to fall sharply, the country's top aviation industry official said on Wednesday.

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China's domestic passenger traffic increased 13.47 percent in February from a year earlier, after registering 20 percent growth in January, said Li Jiaxiang, director of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC).

However, international cargo traffic plunged 28 percent from a year earlier, while international passenger traffic dropped 16 percent, Li said on the sidelines of the annual sessions of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).

China's entire aviation industry, which lost 28.2 billion yuan ($4.12 billion) last year, made a combined profit of 40 million yuan in January, Li said.