Chinanews.com, February 19th (China News Finance and Economics Ge Cheng) "Now the international flights displayed on the big screen of the airport's aviation display have begun to roll over the screen. Who would have thought that just two months ago, there would be Sometimes there are only a few sporadic flights throughout the day!"
According to an employee of the ground service center of China Eastern Airlines, in the past month or so, the passenger flow of Pudong Airport has obviously increased, and the restaurants and shops in the waiting hall have also become lively.
Data map: Civil Aircraft.
Photo courtesy of China Southern Airlines
The civil aviation industry welcomes a "good start" in January
In 2023, the civil aviation industry has experienced an exciting start.
According to data released by the Civil Aviation Administration of China, in January, civil aviation transportation production showed a rapid recovery trend.
Among them, the scale of civil aviation passenger transportation rebounded rapidly, and the passenger transportation volume was 39.775 million, a year-on-year increase of 34.8%.
From the perspective of the degree of recovery, the passenger volume of civil aviation has recovered to 74.5% in the same period of 2019, and the recovery level has increased by 39.0 percentage points compared with December 2022.
The January 2023 operating data announcements recently released by the three major domestic airlines show that the passenger transport business of the three airlines has shown a relatively obvious growth trend.
Specifically, the passenger transport capacity of Air China and its subsidiaries increased by 38.4% year-on-year, and the passenger turnover (based on revenue passenger kilometers) increased by 62.2% year-on-year; China Eastern Airlines’ passenger transport capacity investment increased by 17.21% year-on-year, and passenger turnover An increase of 42.70%; China Southern Airlines and its subsidiaries' investment in passenger transport capacity increased by 25.41% year-on-year, and passenger turnover increased by 44.62% year-on-year.
The above data show that the recovery of China's civil aviation industry is gradually accelerating.
The busy scene at the airport is gratifying and has strengthened the outside world's confidence in China's economic recovery.
Data map: Passengers check in in an orderly manner.
Photo courtesy of China Eastern Airlines
Passenger flight volume is expected to recover and exceed pre-pandemic levels
The "good start" of the civil aviation industry is inseparable from the support of policies.
Shang Kejia, deputy director of the Transportation Department of the Civil Aviation Administration of China, said that after the implementation of the "Class B and B Management" policy on January 8, civil aviation coincided with the peak production season of the Spring Festival travel season, the market quickly recovered, and the operation was safe and stable.
During the Spring Festival travel season, the people's accumulated travel needs for returning home for the New Year, visiting relatives and friends, traveling on vacation, and business travel have been released intensively, driving passenger flow to rise rapidly.
According to preliminary calculations by the Ministry of Transport, during the 40-day Spring Festival travel season in 2023, there will be about 4.733 billion person-times in the whole society.
According to data from the Civil Aviation Administration of China, from January 7 to February 15, during the 40-day Spring Festival travel season, civil aviation transported 55.23 million passengers, with an average daily passenger volume of 1.38 million passengers, a year-on-year increase of 39% compared to last year, returning to the pre-epidemic (2019 ) of 76%.
536,000 flights were guaranteed, with an average of 13,000 flights per day, a year-on-year increase of 15%, and the recovery rate exceeded 80%.
The average passenger load factor was 74%, a year-on-year increase of 10 percentage points.
On January 27, the single-day passenger traffic of civil aviation reached 1.79 million, setting a new industry single-day high after 631 days since May 6, 2021.
The concentrated release of people's travel needs is providing strong support for the recovery of the civil aviation industry.
In response to the increase in passenger flow, airlines are also actively working to ensure the normal and orderly operation of the airport.
The person in charge of the ground service department of China Eastern Airlines said that with the gradual resumption of flights recently, the T1 terminal of Hongqiao Airport is intensively deploying the reopening work, actively carrying out personnel recruitment activities, rationally planning manpower allocation, and ensuring smooth flight operations.
Shang Kejia said that in the new season, the domestic passenger transport market will continue to maintain a rapid recovery trend, and the number of flights is expected to recover and exceed the pre-epidemic level.
On February 8, the "Class B and B management" was implemented for one month, and the number of entry and exit personnel at the Shanghai Pudong International Airport port increased steadily.
Photo by Yang Xiajie
There is still room for growth in international flights
According to statistics from the Civil Aviation Administration of China, judging from the actual flight situation from February 6th to February 12th, my country has resumed regular passenger flights with 58 countries, and 98 Chinese and foreign airlines have carried out a total of 795 flights. The week before the release of the "Class B and B management" policy (January 2-January 8, 482 classes) increased by 65%.
According to data from Ctrip's FlightAI market insight platform, the number of cross-border flights from January 8 to February 7 increased by 47% from the previous month.
According to Fliggy data, the number of international air ticket bookings in the past month has increased by more than three times compared with last year.
Qunar platform data shows that from February 6th to February 16th, the number of international air ticket bookings doubled from the same period last month.
Although the recovery of international flights has been remarkable, there is still a distance compared to before the epidemic.
According to data from the Civil Aviation Administration of China, from February 6th to February 12th, the overall international passenger flight volume recovered to 9% of the pre-epidemic level, and Chinese airlines accounted for 62% of the flight volume.
Currently, there is still room for growth in the number of international passenger flights.
Qi Qi, deputy dean of the School of Civil Aviation Operations and Management of Guangzhou Civil Aviation Vocational and Technical College, said, "The passenger planes on international routes are mainly wide-body planes. Due to visas, market demand and other reasons, the recovery situation needs to be improved."
According to reports, on the 16th local time, Sweden, the EU's rotating presidency, issued a statement stating that 27 EU countries have reached a consensus and agreed to "gradually lift" the epidemic restrictions on passengers from China.
Qi Qi believes that the removal of restrictions by the European Union will further release the demand for international passenger flights.
"As long as the policy can be resolved, the recovery speed of international flights is actually not slow." Therefore, domestic airlines need to resume the operation capacity of various types of long-range wide-body passenger aircraft as soon as possible, and airports also need to strengthen the comprehensive support capabilities of international and regional flights. Especially the flight support capability of large passenger ports.
With the adjustment of China's epidemic prevention and control policy and the gradual recovery of international flights, more and more executives of multinational companies are "returning to China".
Foreign media expect dozens of executives to attend various business meetings in China in the coming months.
Previously, the German media had revealed that the CEOs of several auto companies planned to visit China, and some middle-level employees were also asked by the company to go to China for business study.
The Civil Aviation Administration of China stated that with the gradual recovery of international public and business personnel exchanges, tourism, and overseas study markets, airlines, especially foreign airlines, will gradually adjust their flight capacity, and the number of international flights is expected to further increase.
In the future, the Civil Aviation Administration of China will continue to coordinate the work of operational safety, epidemic prevention and control, and the resumption of international flights, maintain communication with the civil aviation authorities of various countries, and promptly approve the resumption and flight increase plans of Chinese and foreign airlines, so as to better meet international passenger travel and economic and trade needs. Communication needs.
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