China Southern Airlines says 2018 was a successful year for its hub development in Guangzhou, and it will push to develop a dual-hub strategy with the opening of a second airport in Beijing later this year.
The state-owned carrier handled 4.42 million transit passengers at its Guangzhou Baiyun International airport hub last year, an 8.56% jump from a year ago. Of these, 945,000 were international transit passengers, up 8.65% from 2017.
The carrier’s network at Guangzhou connects to 145 points, including to 51 international destinations.
In all, the group carried 140 million passengers, 10.8% higher than a year ago, driven by increases in both domestic and international numbers. ASKs rose 12%, while RPK jumped 12.4%. Load factor saw a marginal increase to 82.4%. Cargo carried climbed 3.3% to 1.7 million tonnes.
China Southern has earmarked the upcoming Beijing Daxing airport, which is set to open by the end of the year, as its second major hub. It is targetting to handle 40% of all passengers through the facility, and base over 200 aircraft there by 2025.
Source: Cirium Dashboard
