Haikou municipal government recently announced "Provisional Measures on Encouraging Operation of Air Passenger Transport in Haikou", Economic Daily reported.

The capital city of Hainan Province announced Provisional Measures to encourage and attract airlines' flights to Haikou and further increase the freight, air passengers and capital flow in and out of the city, aiming at building Haikou Meilan International Airport a key hub in Southern China and expediting the economic and social development in North Hainan Island.

In the first seven months of this year, Haikou received 4.56 million passengers staying overnight both from home and abroad, up 7.9% year-on-year. Haikou also sees a stable increase in the city's tourism, with the total income of the industry at 4.46 billion yuan, jumping 9.9% over the previous year.

Haikou is accelerating the development of its air travel market in response to the strong demand. According to statistics, the municipal government appropriated 30 million yuan bonus to reward airlines in 2010. The figure is expected to rise up to 50 million yuan in 2011, 150 million yuan in 2012 after the Measures coming into effect.