Western China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, the largest Chinese administrative division, is to build and upgrade airports in the next five years in a bid to shorten travel times and boost the local economy.

The region is expected to have 22 airports in operation by then from the current 16, forming an extensive air network that will even be able to reach remote areas of desert, the China News Service reported.

Four new airports will be built in Shache, Loulan, Tumshuq and Tazhong, which will be China's first airport in the desert. Another two airports will be built in Qiemo and Fuyun.

Xinjiang will also upgrade airports in capital Urumqi, Korla and Hotan.

China plans to invest 30 billion yuan (US$4.56 billion) in airport construction in Xinjiang, 4.5 times the figure over the past five years, according to a statement released January this year.

By 2015, the number of air passengers in Xinjiang is expected to surge to 20.4 million, and mail and cargo volume will reach 204,000 tons, the report said.

"Building airports in itself might not see immediate returns, but the added value of building such a system will greatly benefit business in the area," Li Xiaojin, a professor at the Civil Aviation University of China, told the Global Times.

Li said that the airport in Tazhong would be of great strategic importance in terms of natural gas and oil exploration in the Tarim Basin and for rescuing people stranded in the desert. It also aims to increase tourism to the Taklamakan desert.

Last year, the 16 airports reportedly handled 11.7 million passengers and 101,500 tons of mail and cargo. Meanwhile, the number of airlines operating in Xinjiang has reached 51.

A total of 116 air routes have been established, with 86 domestic routes connecting 79 cities in 19 different provinces and municipalities across the country.

"Developing civil aviation would also boost China's communications with neighboring countries in Central and West Asia and even South Asia," Li told the Global Times, adding that Urumqi will eventually become a regional hub.

The development in civil aviation comes amid a surge of investment from the central government to Xinjiang.

The central government is expected to invest more than 2.12 trillion yuan (US$322 billion)in Xinjiang's development during 2011-2020, according to Beijing-based financial newspaper the Security Times Monday.

The investment will be used for water conservation, railway and civil aviation projects as well as real estate projects.