China Southern Airlines, one of China’s “Big Three” airlines, plans to more than double the size of its fleet currently consisting of nearly 800 aircraft to 2,000 aircraft by 2035. Additionally, the carrier is exploring ways to cooperate with low-cost carriers, its chief executive, Tan Wangeng, told at the World Routes conference.

While Boeing, China’s leading provider of commercial airplanes, projects a demand for 7,240 new airplanes in the country over the next 20 years valued at nearly $1.1 trillion dollars and IATA predicts China to become the main hub of global aviation in terms of annual additional passengers, with 921 million new passengers for a total of 1.5 billion, the airline is taking measures to meet the demand at full capacity.

 “We plan to have 1,000 aircraft by 2020 and by 2035 it will increase to 2,000,” he was quoted as saying.

Also, Reuters reports that Tan said the airline was looking for ways to cope with a rising number of budget carriers, especially in China and Southeast Asia where they compete for market share.

Therefore, China Southern was not immediately able to confirm Tan’s comments.