China's civil aviation industry, which includes airlines, airports and aviation supplies and fuel companies, has grown steadily this year with profits in the first 11 months hitting 60 billion yuan, Chinese civil aviation authorities said at 2016 National Civil Aviation Work Conference held in Beijing on Dec. 22-23.

In January-November, the collective profit of China's civil aviation industry surged 10.5% from the same period a year to 60.13 billion yuan.

Chinese carriers are expected to transport 480 million passengers this year, up 11% over 430 million in 2015, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC).

The aviation sectors are also expected to witness a surge in freight transport volume this year, with air cargo volume expected to grow 5.5% year on year to reach 6.64 million tonnes in 2016.

The regulator said Chinese carriers took delivery of 270 aircraft from January to November.

It is noteworthy that Chinese carriers made a rapid international expansion this year as domestic airlines opened 260 new international routes in the same timeframe.

Available seats on international routes increased 22.2% while passenger numbers were up 23.4% on international routes. Available seats on domestic low-cost carriers (LCCs) grew 19.4% while passengers transported by Chinese LCCs increased 21.4%, according to the CAAC.

Shanghai's two airports -- Pudong and Hongqiao International -- topped the 100 million air passenger milestone in December, while Beijing Capital International Airport hit the record of 90 million passengers.

As of December 2016, there are altogether 28 airports that handled more than 10 million passengers.

The CAAC said Chinese carriers expect to carry 536 million passengers in 2017, up 10.8% over 2016 and cargo traffic volume is expected to reach 6.97 million tonnes.

Feng Zhenlin, chief of the CAAC stressed aviation safety at the conference and urged greater efforts to improve air travel services and reduce flight delays.