China to subsidize regional aviation

China's civil aviation authority will allocate 912 million yuan (US$150 million) to subsidize domestic regional aviation in 2014, the Civil Aviation Administration of China said on Tuesday.

The subsidies, more than doubled that of 2013, will be offered to domestic airlines to develop regional aviation, with the four major carriers — China Eastern Airlines, Air China, China Southern Airlines and Hainan Airlines — getting a bigger chunk, the CAAS announced on its website.

Shanghai-based China Eastern received the biggest subsidy of 211 million yuan, followed by China Southern (198 million yuan) and Air China (62.1 million yuan).

Hainan Airlines was allocated 7.8 million yuan while its subsidiary carriers, including Tianjin Airlines, the country's biggest regional carrier, and Capital Airlines, have secured a total of 200 million yuan from CAAS.

Smaller carriers, such as Sichuan Airlines, Okay Airways and Tibet Airlines, received over 10 million yuan each in subsidy.

Regional flights are defined by aircraft which seat under 70 passengers or fly routes of up to 800 kilometers. Passengers fly to hub airports and transfer to regional jets to continue their journey to small and remote cities.

Regional flights are in high demand, especially in the western part of the country. China plans to build 69 regional airports nationwide by the end of 2015.