Booming civil aviation sector in summer months mirrors vitality of Chinese economy

Passengers board flight CZ5091 of China Southern Airlines, which is bound for Yerevan of Armenia, at Urumqi Diwopu International Airport in Urumqi, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (Photo/Xinhua)

China's civil aviation industry is flying high this summer, painting a vivid picture of the country's economic vigor in multiple areas including tourism and consumption.

From July 1 through Aug. 20, the sector handled 117 million passenger trips, averaging 2.28 million per day, marking an 11 percent increase compared to the same period last year.

Since the start of August, the daily volume of passenger trips in the sector has surpassed 2.3 million. On Aug. 10, a record of more than 2.45 million passenger trips was reached.

Zhang Qing, director of the development and planning department of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), said by Aug. 20, a staggering 953,000 flights had been processed during the summer travel season, which began on July 1 and runs through Aug. 31. That meant an average of 18,600 flights per day, up 7.9 percent year-on-year.

The summer travel season has also been marked by a recovery in international travel. China Eastern Airlines' international and regional flights have recovered to 102 percent of the level in 2019, while Air China has operated 113 international and regional routes.

At present, China's air passenger numbers to Europe, Central Asia, and West Asia have already surpassed pre-pandemic levels, said Zhan Fen, an associate research fellow at the China Academy of Civil Aviation Science and Technology.

During the summer travel season, civil aviation units have bent over backwards to improve service quality, going the extra mile for first-time flyers, seniors, and passengers with disabilities, while making it easier for international visitors to make payments.

Some airports have seen their passenger numbers go through the roof this summer. The Turpan Jiaohe Airport in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the Liupanshui Yuezhao Airport in southwest China's Guizhou Province, and the Wudalianchi Dedu Airport in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province have all seen passengers soar by more than 80 percent year-on-year.

"Summer is our golden goose. We're seeing 300,000 more customer visits per month than usual," said Zhu Haiyan, business manager at a souvenir shop at the Beijing Daxing International Airport.

This summer travel boom reflects hot consumer sentiment, said Xiao Peng, a researcher at the big data research institute of online travel service provider Qunar.com. Xiao added that bookings for flights from first-tier and new first-tier cities to smaller airports on the platform increased 11 percent year-on-year, boosting hotel bookings in cities like Datong, Tianshui, and Pu'er by over 50 percent.

"The booming civil aviation sector, along with rich tourism activities across China and its 144-hour visa-free transit policy, bears testimony to the country's vast tourism market and robust consumer spending," said Zhang Wu'an, vice president of Spring Airlines.

On the cargo front, Zhengzhou Airport in central China's Henan Province had handled 464,000 tons of cargo by Aug. 18, surging 32.6 percent year-on-year, with international cargo throughput rising 12.1 percent to 269,000 tonnes.

Many airports have set new daily or monthly cargo throughput records, and there's been a surge in imports of fresh and cold chain products, as well as exports of high-tech products like precision instruments, said Qiao Shanxun, secretary general of the Expert Committee of the Henan Aviation Industry Association.

China's air cargo links with Central and Eastern Europe and South America are growing stronger, while inland cargo hubs like Zhengzhou and Ezhou are rising at an accelerated pace, Qiao noted, adding that all these trends show that air cargo is helping promote the high-quality development of China's foreign trade.