BEIJING -- China's civil aviation industry has become smarter thanks to continuous efforts in injecting new-generation digital technologies and management modes into the sector.

In 2021, major progress was achieved in building a smart civil aviation industry in fields such as airport management and aircraft inflight connectivity, said the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC).

By the end of 2021, 66 airports nationwide were capable of providing facial recognition service, showed data from the CAAC.

Meanwhile, 234 airports could serve their passengers with a "paperless" journey by introducing e-boarding and e-security checks, allowing passengers to travel with only their identification cards and eliminating the need for conventional paper boarding tickets.

China has also launched an "easy security check" service, which provides safer and more efficient security check measures, at major airports with an annual passenger throughput of more than 10 million.

By the end of 2021, 842 aircraft in China's civil aviation fleet were capable of providing inflight Wi-Fi service.