China.org.cn | October 28, 2020
Fourth, the guarantee capacity of infrastructure has been enhanced significantly. During the 13th Five-Year Plan period, in accordance with the principle of appropriate advance, China has been making efforts to improve functions of international and regional hub airports, promote capacity of large airports, enhance the support capacity of medium and small airports, and build a group of regional and general airports. China is now constructing a modern airport system featuring wide coverage, reasonable layout, advanced functions and intensive environmental protection. The system consists of three world-class airport clusters in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area, Yangtze River Delta region, and Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area; 10 international aviation hubs in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu and Xi'an, 29 regional hub airports, together with a number of non-hub airports, which will meet the anticipated demand created by rapid growth of air transport. Beijing Daxing International Airport, which officially opened in 2019, has become a new power source for national development and new engine for the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, as well as the construction of the Xiong'an New Area. During the 13th Five-Year Plan period, the expansion projects of 15 large and medium hub airports including Pudong International Airport in Shanghai have been completed. The construction of Chengdu Tianfu International Airport and Jiaodong International Airport in Qingdao, rebuilding and expansion of Guiyang Longdongbao International Airport have been promoted steadily. China's first cargo-oriented airport in Ezhou of Hubei province is under construction. The country's airport network has been improved constantly, and its guarantee capability has been enhanced markedly. At present, there are 39 airports in the country with annual passenger throughput of 10 million, and 11 of them with passenger throughput of 30 million. By the end of 2020, the number of transport airports in the country is expected to reach 241, with 41 new runways, 5.88 million square meters of new terminals and 2,264 new aircraft parking spots being added. This will provide additional capacity of 400 million passengers and a total national capacity of 1.4 billion passengers. In addition, 43 new and expanded airports will be completed, bringing the number of general airports up to 313, surpassing the number of transport airports.
Fifth, the service quality of the industry has improved steadily. During the 13th Five-Year Plan period, CAAC has made great efforts to improve on-time rate of flights. The rate increased from 67% in 2015 to 81.6% in 2019, exceeding 80% for two consecutive years, and reached 87.04% in the first three quarters of this year. CAAC has carried out special initiatives to improve service quality for five straight years. We have promoted "e-ticket" flights, launched a whole-process luggage tracking system, opened the Hotline 12326 for dealing with inquiries and complaints, standardized the price of catering in airports, implemented tiered charge standards for ticket refunds, promoted services for disable passengers, increased servicemen's priority access to flights, and set up an express channel for donated body organs. Through this, we strive to provide a better travel experience and services for all passengers.
Sixth, deepening reform of the industry has been further promoted. During the 13th Five-Year Plan period, CAAC maintained a problem-oriented principle, and promoted development through reforms and deepened the industry reform. We identified 40 specific reform tasks covering 10 aspects, implemented 158 reform measures, and formed an overall framework for deepening reform featuring a "1+10+N" pattern. Breakthroughs were made in important areas and key links, such as reforms of freight rates, regulatory models, reconstruction of the aviation regulation system, and reform of shareholding system of aviation enterprises. Since the beginning of the 13th Five-Year Plan, we have carried out a total of 1,544 reform tasks, and the completion rates in 2017, 2018 and 2019 reached 93.6%, 94.5% and 91.3% respectively. At present, the reform of China's civil aviation industry is still proceeding, the administrative management system is further improving, functions of public service are further strengthening, and its administrative efficiency, regulatory levels and law-based management are also advancing at a faster pace.
Certainly, while noting the achievements made in the past five years, we also acknowledge there are still some weak links in the development of China's civil aviation, which still fall short of the requirements of the central government and the expectation of our people. At present, CAAC is formulating the 14th five-year plan for civil aviation development and the guidelines for the reform of the industry. The sector will resolutely adhere to the bottom line of security, and further promote intelligent civil aviation as the main focus of future development. We will comprehensively enhance the ability of our resource guarantee, create a longer safety period, vigorously improve service quality, and better meet people's diverse air travel demands and development needs of modern aviation logistics, so as to contribute to nurturing a new development pattern that takes the domestic market as the mainstay while letting domestic and foreign markets boost each other. Thank you.