China will build another 45 airports during the next five years, the industry regulator said on Thursday, raising fresh questions about the potential for excess capacity in the transport sector.
Li Jiaxing, the head of the Civil Aviation Administration of China, said that the new investments would increase the number of airports in the country to 220. This is in spite of the fact that most of the existing airports are losing money.
Although demand for air travel has grown rapidly in recent years as the purchasing power of Chinese consumers has risen, the expansion in airport infrastructure, which accelerated during the economic stimulus programme of the past two years, has become one of a number of potential sources of over- investment .