China's airlines fulfil 700 million passenger trips, setting new record

A C919 aircraft operated by China Southern Airlines taxis at Haikou Meilan International Airport in Haikou, south China's Hainan Province, on Dec. 11, 2024. Flight CZ6786 took off from Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province, and landed in Haikou at 12:57 p.m., marking a successful maiden commercial operation on the Guangzhou-Haikou route of China Southern Airlines with China's homegrown large passenger aircraft C919. (Photo/Xinhua)

China's airlines had transported 700.48 million passenger trips as of December 15, marking a historic milestone, with daily trips surpassing 2 million— representing an 18.1 percent increase year-on-year and a 10.7 percent growth compared with 2019, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC).

This year, China's airlines demonstrated robust growth in the domestic market. As of December 15, domestic routes handled approximately 640 million passenger trips, reflecting a 13 percent year-on-year rise and a notable 14 percent increase from the same period in 2019.

Moreover, China's aviation industry has experienced a rapid rebound in the international market. As of December 15, international routes handled more than 60 million passenger trips, marking a year-on-year surge of over 130 percent and reaching 88 percent of 2019 levels.

During the Spring Festival and summer travel rush, airlines handled an average of 2.1 million and 2.29 million passenger trips per day, respectively, setting a new single-day record of 2.45 million trips, a 9.8 percent increase over the previous peak in 2023.

Passenger load factor has remained robust, with the industry average occupancy rate surpassing 83 percent, reflecting a year-on-year rise of more than 5 percentage points and comparable to 2019 levels. Single-day passenger load factor peaked at nearly 88 percent.