Chinese carriers report passenger boardings up 13.4% in H1

Chinese carriers transported 263m passengers in the 2017 H1, up 13.4% over the year-ago period. According to the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), passengers carried on international routes rose 6.1% year-over-year (YOY) to 26.7 million. The CAAC did not disclose the numbers for domestic passengers carried. Average load factor grew 0.2 point YOY to 83.3%. Cargo traffic volume increased 5.1% YOY to 3.3m tonnes. As of June 30, Chinese airlines operated 3,065 aircraft, up 115 aircraft from Dec. 31, 2016. Air China transported 49.2m passengers in the 1H, up 5% YOY when domestic passenger boardings increased 6.3% to 40.6 million and international boardings were up 1.5% to 6.5m passengers. Average load factor rose 1.3 points YOY to 81%. China Eastern Airlines transported 53.3m passengers in the 1H, up 9.2% YOY, when domestic passenger boardings grew 10.7% to 44.5 million and international boardings were up 1.7% to 7.14m passengers. Average load factor increased 0.44 point YOY to 81.3%.<br/>