Air passenger sector records big recovery

An Air China plane takes off from Beijing Daxing International Airport. [Photo by Zou Hong/chinadaily.com.cn]

Air passenger trips recovered significantly in China during the first quarter of this year, with the number of domestic flights reaching roughly 90 percent of that before the COVID-19 epidemic, the Civil Aviation Administration of China said on Tuesday.

Li Yong, deputy director of the administration's Office of Aviation Safety, said civil aviation is expected to continue to maintain a steady recovery.

In the first quarter, 129 million air passenger trips were made, up 68.9 percent year-on-year.

Of those, 126 million were domestic air passenger trips, which were up 66.6 percent year-on-year and equated to 88.6 percent of trips taken during the same period in 2019, Li said.

A total of 2.24 million international air passenger trips were made, a year-on-year increase of 717 percent, equivalent to 12.4 percent of such trips taken in the first quarter of 2019, he said.

Inbound flights from surrounding countries also rose significantly in the first quarter of this year. The five countries with the highest number of flights to China were Thailand, South Korea, Japan, Singapore and Malaysia, according to the administration.

Xu Qing, deputy director of the administration's Department of Transport, said that as of last week, international passenger flights had opened to 59 countries, about 82 percent of the pre-epidemic level.

Xu said that since Jan 8, when the administration began accepting the applications of Chinese and foreign airlines to resume and increase international passenger flights, the number of such flights has steadily increased.

International passenger round-trip flights last week reached 2,242, about 29 percent of the pre-epidemic level.

Of those, Chinese airlines operated 1,379.5 round-trip flights, accounting for 61.5 percent of the total, while foreign airlines conducted 862.5, accounting for 38.5 percent.

The administration will continue the timely approval of applications from domestic and foreign airlines for the additions to and resumption of international flights, Xu said. It will also assist in resolving difficulties and problems encountered by airlines to ensure that the resumption of international passenger flights is done in a smooth and orderly manner.

Meanwhile, air cargo volume fluctuated in the first quarter, the administration said.

Domestically, 925,000 metric tons of cargo were transported by air, down 2 percent year-on-year, the equivalent of 81.2 percent of cargo delivered during the same period in 2019.

Internationally, 570,000 tons of cargo were flown, down 15.2 percent year-on-year, but up 5.5 percent from the same period in 2019, according to the administration.

As the airline market recovers, the administration said it will enhance governance and supervision of airlines to minimize flight cancellations and delays.

Airlines should presell a reasonable number of flights and properly arrange flight plans, the administration said, adding that more than 80 percent of domestic passenger flights should be operating normally this year.