The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) issued the civil aviation statistics for 2011. The most important figures are recorded as follows:

46 Carriers

China has a total of 46 airline companies at the end of 2011, an increase of 3 over last year. The number of air cargo carriers remains 11, the same as the previous year.

180 Civil Airports

China has 180 airports as of the end of 2011, up from 175 in 2010. The 5 new airports are Shigatse Peace Airport, Arxan Airport, Jinchang Airport, Zhangye Ganzhou Airport and Bayannur Airport.

455,000 Hours

General aviation has witnessed rapid development in 2011, with the annual general aviation flight hours expected to reach 455,000 hours, up 16.3 percent over last year, including a 16.9 percent growth of the flight hours for production operation.

1,745 Aircraft

As of the end of November this year, China's registered commercial transport aircraft reached up to 1,745, a net increase of 148 from the previous year; general aviation aircraft up to 1,124, an increase of 114.

69 Billion Yuan

China's civil aviation industry has invested 69 billion yuan in fixed assets in 2011, 46 billion yuan of which invested in airport construction, 1.8 billion yuan in air traffic control system construction.

27,569 Pilots

As of the end of November this year, China has 27,569 registered pilots working in the industry including 1,716 foreign pilots, an increase of 3,293 from the end of 2010.

1.2 Million Industry Practitioners

China has an estimated 1.2 million civil aviation practitioners at the end of 2011, with 597,000 directly involved in the industry operations.

114 Countries

Up to now, China has signed bilateral agreement for air transport with a total of 114 countries/territories, adding a new one in 2011.

140 Cities

Domestic carriers have launched scheduled flights to 140 cities in 60 countries across the world. The number of Chinese mainland cities operating scheduled flights to Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan are 43, 10 and 41 respectively. Cross-strait flights between Taiwan and mainland China have increased to 558 from 370 a year earlier.

3 Indexes

China's civil aviation industry registered up to 18.89 million flight hours and 8.76 million aircraft movements from Jan. 2008 to Dec. 20, 2011. The sector's fatality rate averaged 0.003 deaths per 100 million passenger kilometers; the accident rates were respectively 0.11 accidents per million aircraft movements and 0.05 per million flight hours.