China, reacting to a foiled terrorist attempt to destroy an aircraft in flight with a gasoline fire, will ban domestic passengers from carrying liquids. The civil aviation administration will also step up security checks at airports, opening more bags for inspection, and it will forbid airlines from operating express security lanes. There will also be tight checks on vehicles entering the secure zones of airports.

Chinese aircraft group Avic 1 is sending 150 engineers to Britain’s Cranfield University to study commercial airframe and engine design. In three groups spread over three years, the engineers will develop a design for a 130-seat airliner — just as an exercise, not to put it into production. Cranfield’s Professor John Fielding chose the aircraft size, so that part of the course doesn’t say anything about specific Chinese ambitions.

Chinese airports handled 388 million passengers last year, the civil aviation administration says. That was up 16.8% on 2006, but the growth rate slowed from the previous year’s 19%. International passenger numbers grew faster than domestic numbers. More than a tenth of air travelers in China pass through Beijing Capital International Airport. It handled 48.5 million in 2006. -