Passengers need to pay for a civil aviation development fund when taking flights in China instead of the airport construction fee, the country's finance ministry announced Tuesday.

The Ministry of Finance said in a statement that it has canceled the charging of airport construction fees and instead, will charge passengers a civil aviation fee from April 1. The new fee will be 50 yuan (7.94 s) for each domestic flight, the same amount as the previous construction fee.

Passengers of feeder line flights do not have to pay for the fund, while for international flights, passengers will be charged 90 yuan, of which 20 yuan will be set aside for a tourism development fund, according to the ministry.

Outbound passengers with diplomatic passports, or passengers under the age of 12 are exempted, according to the statement.

The civil aviation development fund is government-controlled, said the ministry. It will be collected by the airlines and brought under governmental budgetary management.

The fund will be spent on infrastructure constructions, subsidizing airlines, emissions cuts and energy conservation in aviation, training and equipment replacement, technology development and other expenses in the field. The ministry confirmed that the funds shall not be diverted for other purposes.

沪江英语快讯：财政部4月17日发布通知，正式实施《民航发展基金征收使用管理暂行办法》。航空旅客将缴纳民航发展基金。国内航班旅客每人次50元，支线旅客及12岁以下儿童免征；国际航班出境旅客每人次90元。《民航发展基金征收使用管理暂行办法》规定，民航发展基金需由清算中心负责征收并全额上缴中央国库。而普通飞机乘客需要知道的就两点：1.机场建设费取消了，改叫民航发展基金，收费不变，每人50元；2.出国坐飞机要比以前多交20元。由此机场建设费穿起了“马甲”，小号名为“民航发展基金”。