Six major Chinese airlines saw a recovery in capacity and passenger volume in August, reviving market confidence in the pandemic-battered industry. The six listed carriers, including Air China, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines, recorded 24.37 million passenger trips in August, up 52.7% from the same period in 2021, and recovering to 50.2% from the same period in 2019. Compared with the pre-Covid period, Spring Airlines' passenger volume recovered to 80% of that in 2019, followed by Juneyao Airlines with 70%. China Southern Airlines, Air China and China Eastern Airlines recovered to about 50% of the pre-Covid level. The total number of passengers on the international routes of the six major airlines in August was about 162,000, up 19.1% from July.
Airports have been doing better, too. For example, Shenzhen Baoan International Airport said that its passenger throughput in August was 2.89 million, a year-on-year increase of 30.89%. Market watchers said the rising demand was mainly due to seasonal factors, as August is the second month of the summer holidays, which brings soaring demand for flights. In August, the available seat kilometers of Air China and China Eastern both increased by around 35% year-on-year, followed by 47% of China Southern Airlines. In terms of revenue passenger kilometers, China Southern Airlines had the largest increase of 67.72% in August, followed by Air China with 56.4% and China Eastern Airlines with 62.14%. However, during the just-concluded Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, affected by the pandemic, there was a decline in flying. From September 10 to 12, the number of passenger flights was about 14,100, a decrease of 51.4% compared with the same period in 2021, the Global Times reports.
