Chinese carriers flew close to 11% more passengers compared to pre-pandemic 2019 from the beginning of the year through to 15 December, with international traffic moving closer to full recovery.
As of 15 December, Chinese carriers had flown more than 700 million passengers – an increase of 10.7% compared to the same period in 2019 and a “new high” for the country’s airline sector.
“Since the start of the year, the civil aviation sector has generally remained stable…[and] maintained a good growth trend. Operational efficiency has [also] continued to improve,” states the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC).
Data from the CAAC shows Chinese airlines to carry around 640 million domestic passengers, up 13% year on year, and about 14% higher than 2019 levels.
International passenger numbers recovered to around 88% of pre-pandemic levels, CAAC data shows. The agency notes that international traffic has also recovered to around 90% of 2019 levels “consistently” since July.
“[The] CAAC will [continue to] closely monitor changes in the civil aviation market…to ensure safe, stable and orderly operations…[and it will] continue to monitor the industry’s economic operations,” it adds.
The Chinese airline sector’s recovery has been a subject of scrutiny in the post-pandemic years, given that China was the last major economy in the world to drop its pandemic travel restrictions.
