The International Air Transport Association expects China to overtake the US as the world's largest air travel market by 2022. But growing demand is outpacing the supply of pilots the country can produce. The country's major airlines now want to get pilots to fly in from overseas to land better-paying jobs in China. Li Linxi has the story.

Douglas is one of China Eastern Airlines' newest captains. He moved to Shanghai because it was the best offer on the table.

DOUGLAS, CAPTAIN CHINA EASTERN AIRLINES "The salary, compensation here is better than America, better than Europe, Emirates and everywhere in the world. The best salary for pilots in the world is here."

David Walker knows this all too well. He now works for the Chinese budget carrier Spring Airlines.

DAVID WALKER, CAPTAIN SPRING AIRLINES "My previous annual salary was 118 thousand pounds, 228 thousand US dollars is my current salary here, so a lot more money."

Spring Airlines now has 119 foreign captains while China Eastern Airlines has hired 79. Local carriers are absorbing these high costs because of growing demand.

China's aviation market grew by 13 percent last year, with 549 million passengers taking to the skies. That's double the number who flew in 2010. And the growth is expected to stay steady or pick up. The US aircraft-maker Boeing predicts, China will purchase 7-thousand commercial aircraft in the next 20 years for air travel. That means China will need 110-thousand pilots to man those new cockpits.

XIAO FEI, HR MANAGER SPRING AIRLINES "The China Civil Aviation Administration requires airlines to have a balanced ratio of cabin crew and aircraft. So we must have enough pilots or it will affect the whole company."

Airlines say offering higher salaries hasn't been enough to get the pilots they need. So Chinese companies are investing in training their own pilots. There are currently 22 domestic training schools, and some overseas bases have been established. The hope is for the results to arrive without delay. Li Linxi, cgtn.