An aircraft takes off from the Hongyuan Airport in Hongyuan county of Aba prefecture, Southwest China's Sichuan province, August 28, 2014. The Hongyuan Airport, which locates at an altitude of 3,535 meters, was opened to navigation on August 28.[Photo/Xinhua]

BEIJING - China now has 15 high plateau airports, about 36 percent of the world's total, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC).

In 2014, high plateau airports handled 5.8 million passengers, up 18.7 percent year on year, and 59,000 flights, up 19.1 percent year on year.

Different from common flights, high plateau flights face more safety challenges, thus, standards should be established at the legislative level, said Li Jian, deputy head of the CAAC, on Friday.

High plateau airports are no less than 2,438 meters above sea level. Plateau airports refer to those at an altitude no less than 1,500 meters, but less than 2,438 meters above sea level, according to the CAAC.