China's civil aviation sets out roadmap for smart development

Passengers step out of a China Southern Airlines aircraft at Dalian International Airport, Liaoning province, on July 15. [Photo by Liu Debin/For China Daily]

China's civil aviation industry will grow smarter with the help of new-generation digital technologies, per a roadmap issued by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC).

Solid digital transformation progress should be made by 2025, with the efficiency of security checks rising 30 percent from 2020, according to the roadmap.

More than 90 percent of airport trips will see paperless services, and luggage transfers between airports will be facilitated by 2025, it said.

By 2030, key breakthroughs will be made in intelligent applications. Domestic airports will fully support the whole process of facial recognition services, and some cities and surrounding villages will form an unmanned aircraft logistics distribution network to enhance the efficiency of logistics and lower delivery costs in rural areas.

By the end of 2021, 66 airports nationwide were capable of providing facial recognition services, according to CAAC data.

A total of 234 airports were capable of providing passengers with paperless journeys by introducing e-boarding and e-security checks, allowing passengers to travel with only their identification cards and eliminating the need for conventional paper boarding tickets.

By the end of 2021, 842 aircraft in China's civil aviation fleet were capable of providing inflight Wi-Fi services.