China to have more than 220 airports by 2015 -regulator

A China Southern aircraft is seen through an airplane window at Beijing Capital International Airport, October 27, 2010.

BEIJING (Reuters) - China will add more than 45 airports over the next five years, bringing the total to more than 220, despite the dire financial situation of many regional airports, the country's top aviation regulator said on Thursday.

China is in the midst of a major airport expansion, planning four major hubs in the country and developing aviation links to its poorer and more remote regions in the far west.

But many of these new airports have struggled to attract customers and languish with just a few flights a week, or none at all.

Out of the country's existing 175 airports, around 130 are in the red with combined loss of 1.68 billion yuan last year, Li Jiaxiang, head of the Civil Aviation Administration of China told reporters.

Government subsidies for airports amounted to 6 billion yuan from 2006 to 2010, and Li pledged continuous financial aid as airports would be a boost to local economies, especially in remote areas, in the longer term, he said.

In the period to 2015, Beijing will invest 1.5 trillion yuan (about $230 billion) in the aviation sector, he said, but did not specify how much would be spent on airports.

Air travel is developing rapidly in China amid a booming economy, bolstering the bottom lines of Air China (601111.SS) (0753.HK), China Eastern Airlines (600115.SS) 670.HK and other carriers.

The combined fleet size of Chinese airlines is expected to jump to around 5,000 planes as of the end of 2015, up from 2,600 units at the end of last year, Li said.

Out China's 43 carriers, 35 are state-controlled. Li, the former chairman of Air China, pledged to support private participation in the sector, adding that three new private carriers had already submitted their applications.

When asked to estimate the impact of surging fuel prices on Chinese airlines, he said major carriers had already raised their fuel surcharges recently, adding the government would not intervene in their normal hedging practices.

(Reporting by Fang Yan and Terril Yue Jones; Editing by Ken Wills and Jonathan Hopfner)