China is flying in to the face of wisdom by investing in airports and planes as airline profits nosedive across the rest of the world.
Beijing is opening state coffers to inject millions in to building 70 new airports and buying 300 jets a year for the next three years.
Li Jiaxiang, administrator of the Civil Aviation Administration of China, told the International Air Transport Association (IATA) meeting that his country will buy more than 300 airplanes each year until 2015.
The state fleet is expected to exceed 4,000 planes by the end of 2015.
He also announced China plans to build 70 new airports and revamp 101 more in the same period.
While stay-at-home Europeans keep their feet on the ground due to the euro crisis affecting their incomes and expensive flights due to escalating oil prices and taxes, the airline industry worldwide is in free fall.
Many leading airlines are facing significant losses.
“Certainly China’s economy is under more pressure this year than we have seen in the recent years, but relative to the rest of the world, it’s still extremely healthy,” said IATA director general Tony Tyler.
Meanwhile, Air India, the country’s official airline, has had hundreds of flights grounded by a bitter pilot’s strike.
The carrier is advertising for new pilots after sacking 100 and threatening to sack the remaining 300.
The airline hopes to recruit replacements from expat pilots recently sacked by rival Indian airline Jet Airways.
The strike is over pay and contracts relating to retraining pilots to fly the giant Boeing 787 Dreamliner and has dragged on for several weeks.
“The pilots are on an illegal strike since May. How long do they expect us to wait for them to resume duty? If the situation remains the same, then the rest of pilots may also be terminated,” Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh told IANS.
“Not only has the illegal strike caused severe losses to the airline, but also wavered the trust of passengers from Air India. If they want to come back, then they are welcome.”