Li Yongqi, a deputy inspector from the Planning Division of Civil Aviation Administration of China, says that CAAC will speed up the airport construction in the central and western part of China during the 11th Five-year Plan Period.

Li said that during the period, all the airports at the capital cities in the six central provinces of Henan, Shanxi, Hunan, Hubei, Jiangxi and Anhui will be expanded and another six small size airports will be added.

According to Li, the expansion of Zhengzhou Airport in Henan Province has been completed; the work on expanding Wuhan Airport, Tianyuan Airport in Shanxi and Changsha Airport in Hunan has also been started; and the reconstruction of Nanchang Airport and Hefei Airport are being reviewed. And the six small airports to be added will be located in Bengbu, Jiuhuashan, Yichun, Zhumadian, Yueyang and Hengyang, respectively.

At present, there are 25 civil airports in central China, 4 of which are located in Shanxi, 5 in Jiangxi, 5 in Hunan, 4 in Hubei, 3 in Henan, 4 in Anhui, accounting for 17% of China's total airports.

During the 10th Five-year Period, China completed 73 airports projects and by the end of 2006 there were 147 airports in China, which is 26 more than that of 2000.