China has been making good progress in building an airport in Mohe, China's northernmost county on the Sino-Russian border, with flights expected to be operational in June 2008.

The airport, which broke ground a year ago, is situated 10 km from the Mohe county seat. It will be the only airport in this remote county in the extreme north of China, 100 km from the Sino-Russian border.

Construction of the terminal and the runway is in full swing, said the airport builders.

To overcome problems with unstable tundra on the runway, workers have dug down to a depth of 4.8 meters to root out permanent tundra, pouring in special sand as a refill to provide a stable runway base for safe landing and takeoffs.

Surfacing work on the runway is currently underway.

Construction of the airport -- one of Heilongjiang province's key construction projects for the 2006-2010 period -- was approved in December 2004.

The airport, located in the southwestern part of Mohe County about nine km from the county seat, covers an area of 1.59 million sq m.

The airport, which is expected to give a fillip to local tourism, is being built at an estimated cost of 238 million yuan (about 31 million U.S. dollars).

Apart from a 1,200 sq m terminal building, other infrastructure projects include an air traffic control tower and power and oil supply facilities.

The new airport is designed to accommodate short-haul planes such as the CRJ-200, ERJ-145 and DON-328, with flights from Harbin, capital of Heilongjiang province and other nearby cities. The airport may also have the capacity, at a later date, to handle Boeing 737 aircraft.

Currently, this remote county is connected to other Chinese regions by road and rail.

Source: Xinhua