THE General Administration of Civil Aviation of China has given approval for the Three Gorges (Sanxia) Airport to schedule international flights from 2008.

Regular flights will link the airport to South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.

In 2007 the government spent more than RMB100 million (US$13.3 million) upgrading the 10-year-old airport, with connections on 26 domestic routes.

With the upgrade, the airport expects the number of passengers to increase by more than 15 per cent in 2008.