According to the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) China’s civil aviation industry made profits of RMB9.1 billion ($1.33 billion) in the first nine months of 2009. This is somewhat amazing considering the effect the financial crisis has had on the world’s civil aviation industry.With China the boost mainly came from within. Domestic air passenger traffic volume grew by 23.6% from a year earlier in the first nine months of this year.
Li Jiaxiang, director with the CAAC, at the 2009 China International General Aviation Convention held in northwest China’s Shaanxi Province, said much of the improvement in performance had come from small airports, those that handle less than 1 million passengers annually. He said that passenger volume of small airports grew 26.7% year on year to 14.87 million in the first half.
China View reported CAAC’s policies carried out last year to subsidize small and medium-sized airports and regional air routes helped the passenger volume rise of small airports.