An agreement to further liberalize travel between Chinese and Taiwanese airlines will result in a 50% increase in air services and five more cities getting direct cross-strait links. Unveiling a new traffic driver, China says it will allow trips to Taiwan by individual tourists—as distinct from business travelers and group tourists, who are already allowed.

HNA Group unit Tianjin Airlines aims to massively increase its fleet over the coming two years to 140 aircraft, almost half of them Airbus A330s and A320s, from the 57 regional jets it now operates. By 2013 the carrier, based in its namesake city in northern China, will operate 500 routes to 100 cities and carry 15 million passengers annually, compared with about 4 million currently, Chairman Li Weijian says.

BEIJING — China’s Tiangong 1 orbital module and Shenzhou 8 spacecraft have entered the prelaunch preparation phase ahead of their mission to demonstrate docking technology needed for future manned flights. The two are to be lofted separately in the second half of this year, according to a schedule announced in March.