East China's Jiangsu Province plans to open more than 40 air routes and carry 13 million passengers in 2008, according to provincial transport bureau sources.

Pan Yonghe, the bureau director, said 30 of the air routes linked to domestic cities, with the rest overseas.

The province will spend 400 million yuan (about 53.3 million US dollars) this year in building a new airport in Huai'an City, and in expanding three others, including the Nanjing Lukou International Airport.

Last year, the province's airports handled 10.76 million passengers, an increase of 30.3 percent over 2006.

Jiangsu is one of the most prosperous provinces in the country, and an engine for the economy.

(Xinhua News Agency January 20, 2008)