China has been making good progress in building an airport in Mohe, its northernmost county on the Sino-Russian border, with flights expected to start in June 2008 to give local tourism a fillip.

The airport, which broke ground a year ago, will be the only airport in this remote county in the extreme north of China, 100 kilometers from the Sino-Russian border.

Construction of the terminal and the runway is in full swing, said the airport builders.

To overcome problems of unstable tundra on the runway, workers have dug to a depth of 4.8 meters to root out permanent tundra, pouring in special sand as a refill to provide a stable runway base for safe landing and takeoffs.

The airport - one of Heilongjiang Province's key construction projects for 2006-2010 period - was approved in December 2004.

The airport is located in the southwestern part of Mohe County about nine kilometers from the county seat.

The airport, which is expected to give a fillip to local tourism, is being built at an estimated cost of 238 million yuan (US$31 million).

The new airport is designed to handle short-haul planes, with flights from Harbin, capital of Heilongjiang Province, and other nearby cities.