BEIJING: China’s aviation regulator announced that domestic airlines reported an accelerated recovery of international flights and a record for cargo transport in February.
As reported by China Central Television, the total cargo transported on international air routes to and from China in February amounted to 3.46 billion tonne-kilometres (tkm). This marked a significant year-on-year increase of 108.6 percent and a 9.9 percent rise from the corresponding period in 2019. The Civil Aviation Administration of China noted that this surpassed pre-pandemic levels for the first time.
Nearly 4.9 million air passenger trips were made in February, rising for three consecutive months.
Air routes between China and ASEAN countries managed the largest number of passenger trips, with 1.94 million trips recorded in February, while travellers made 3.2 million trips on routes between China and countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiatives. Passenger numbers between China and BRI partners have recovered at a rate
6.2 percentage points higher than the average recovery of passenger trips on all international air routes.
Air trips between China and Europe reached 692,000, jumping 33.8 percent from the same period in 2019.
“Benefiting from China’s newly introduced policy to facilitate travellers entering into the country, key international routes such as those between China and Europe have maintained high-speed growth, boosting the rapid development of China’s international trade and export-oriented economy. The rapid development of the international aviation market indicates that China’s economy has a strong resilience,” said Zhong Shan, an economist from the Institute of Air Transport of China Academy of Civil Aviation Science and Technology.
Meanwhile, China’s airlines transported a record high of 216,000 tonnes of cargo on international routes in February.
Air routes between China and Europe accounted for 92,000 tonnes of cargo, the largest portion, while 66,000 tonnes of cargo were transported by air between Chin
a and countries in Belt and Road Initiative.
Cargo volumes between China and BRI partners have recovered at a rate 77.9 percentage points higher than the average cargo volume recovery rate on all international routes.
Source: Emirates News Agency