(Yicai Global) Nov. 15 -- Chinese airlines are expected to buy some 7,630 passenger aircraft in 20 years to meet rising demand and to replace old planes, according to a state-owned aerospace conglomerate's think tank.

Nearly 70 percent of the total will be narrow-body trunk-liners, almost one-fifth wide-body trunk aircraft, and the rest regional jets, Huang Yumin, deputy director of a research center under the Aviation Industry Corporation of China, wrote in a report published yesterday.

The passenger load factor will remain high at over 84 percent till 2038, the report predicted. The capacity will reach 4.4 trillion available seat kilometers, nearly three-quarters of which will be for domestic travel.

An increasing number of wide-body aircraft, which can generally carry 300 passengers, will be used to tackle congestion in routes between popular hubs and to advance airlines' international strategies, the report forecast.

Editor: Emmi Laine