China is to expand its trial open airspace program to Hunan, Hubei, Guangxi, and part of Inner Mongolia, and hopes to fully open the country's low-altitude airspace by 2015, Li Jiaxiang, director of China’s Civil Aviation Administration said Sunday.

The open airspace program is currently being trialed in Jilin, Guangdong and Heilongjiang.

Li said low-altitude airspace is divided into three sections: (1) areas under control; (2) areas under surveillance; (3) areas where aircraft can fly freely after reporting their flight plan in advance. To fly in areas one and two, private planes need to apply before 3pm on the day of the flight and will receive a reply by 9pm the same day. Planes flying in section three need only file an application two hours before take-off.

The open airspace program is aimed at encouraging the development of China’s private aviation industry, Li said.

China's business press carried the story above on Monday. China.org.cn has not checked the stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.