Airline stocks rose for a second day on exchanges in the Chinese mainland, reacting to news that the State Council, China's cabinet, had released plans to boost the development of general aviation.
General aviation covers all civil aviation operations, excluding scheduled passenger services. It also excludes military services.
Air China shares closed at 7.47 yuan ($1.15) on Thursday, up 1.49 percent, while Juneyao Airlines ended at 31.88 yuan, a gain of 7.48 percent, according to news portal sina.com.cn.
Airline shares, including Air China, Hainan Airlines, China Eastern Airlines, Spring Airlines, and Juneyao Airlines, rose by over 5 percent on the Shanghai bourse on Wednesday, with the shares of China Southern Airlines closing up by the 10 percent daily limit.
The government will gradually open access to low-altitude airspace and streamline the examination, approval and record-keeping requirements for general aviation flights. It will also strengthen supervision to ensure the safety of flights and air defense, according to a statement posted on the government's website gov.cn on Wednesday.
Last year, the State Council released guidelines intended to drive economic growth through new consumption.
The guidelines said that general aviation is expected to be a source of new growth momentum as the ranks of affluent consumers grow and their spending expands.
China will invest 77 billion yuan to build airports and other civil aviation infrastructure this year, Feng Zhenglin, general director of the Civil Aviation Administration of China, was quoted as saying by wallstreetcn.com on Thursday.
