China will buy more than 2,500 aircraft during the "12th Five Year Plan" period (2011-2015), bringing the nation's fleet size to over 4,500 aircraft, a senior aviation official said at a forum in Beijing on May 23.

Li Jiaxiang, Chief of Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), said at China Civil Aviation Development Forum 2012, China will buy more than 2,500 aircraft during 2011-2015, bringing the total civil aircraft number to over 4,500. He further introduced that China plans to build nearly 70 new airports, renovate or expand more than 100 existing airports. China's civil aviation industry is still in its early stages.

Roberto Kobeh Gonzalez, President of the Council, ICAO said at the forum, the Asia-Pacific region already accounts for about 40% of the world's air cargo transport and 26% of the air passenger transport. And the rate is expected to continue to increase by 2014, when China will play an even more important role in the global aviation industry.

Tony Tyler, Director General and CEO of International Air Transport Association (IATA), also said that in 2011, the profit of Chinese carriers is equal to half of the entire global aviation industry's profit last year. The Chinese market is growing even more important. He projected, "Of the 877 million additional people who are expected to travel in 2015 compared to 2010, over 212 million will be on journeys within or connected to China."

However, Tyler pointed out the civil aviation industry is a "business characterized by razor thin profits that do not cover even its cost of capital". He said, "The unpredictable, volatile and rising price of oil is the main factor currently impacting airline profits. Oil has now been over US$100/barrel for over 14 months. And, with respect to fuel prices, we are in a completely different world than a decade ago. In 2002, fuel represented an average of 13% of the industry's cost structure. This year we anticipate that it will be 34%."

He said China's carriers are amongst those being hit by the rise in the fuel price. "For 2011, we saw Chinese carrier revenues rise by about 18% to 360 billion yuan while profits fell by nearly 14% to about 28 billion yuan - largely because of fuel prices."

China Civil Aviation Development Forum, hosted by CAAC, is the highest-level government sponsored official aviation annual forum in China. The forum is designed to serve as a high-level communication platform for global aviation leaders. It is held in each May and focuses on long-term trends and hot issues, and discusses strategies for the development of civil aviation industry. More than 700 top officials, leaders, specialists, sponsors and media friends from over 30 countries across the world attended in the 2012 forum.