China's civil aviation growth hits two-year high in May

BEIJING - China's civil aviation sector expanded at the fastest monthly rate in two years in May, official data showed Tuesday.

The total turnover of the sector grew 16.2 percent year on year to reach 8.9 billion ton-km last month, accelerating from 12 percent in April, the Civil Aviation Administration of China said in a statement.

Airlines saw the number of passenger trips rise 15.3 percent year on year to reach 45 million in May, faster than the 10.7-percent growth in April, the statement said.

Air cargo and mail freight volume increased 8.2 percent to 599,000 tons, accelerating from 6.3 percent in April, with the volume on international routes hitting a record monthly high of 190,000 tons.

China ranks second in the world in terms of air passenger and cargo turnover, behind the United States.

The country aims to build 136 new civil airports by 2025, according to a government plan. It had 207 civil airports as of the end of 2015.