CHANGCHUN/HARBIN, Oct. 29 -- Two new airports opened on Sunday in northeast China, injecting new momentum into the economic growth of the old industrial region which is undergoing restructuring.

One of the airports is in Songyuan, a city well-known for a centuries-old tradition of ice-fishing, in Jilin Province. New air routes linking Songyuan with the cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Qingdao and Sanya were launched the same day, with more destinations to be added soon.

Covering an area of 190 hectares, the airport is designed to handle 400,000 passengers annually.

The airport, 27 kilometers from Chagan Lake Nature Reserve, is expected to boost the local tourism industry. Every winter, tens of thousands of tourists come to the ice-covered lake, one of the biggest freshwater lakes in the country, to watch fishermen use traditional ice-fishing techniques dating back nearly 2,000 years.

The Jiansanjiang Wetlands Airport in Heilongjiang Province was also put into operation Sunday. An Air China flight carrying 135 passengers landed at the airport around midday.

The airport currently has routes to Harbin, the provincial capital and Beijing. It is expected to handle 250,000 passengers annually.

"The opening of the airport not only improves the local transportation infrastructure, but will also be a driver for regional economic development," said Tao Xijun, Party chief of the Jiansanjiang branch of Heilongjiang Farms and Land Reclamation Administration.

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