After a tepid start to the year, China’s three largest carriers made significant gains in domestic traffic, surpassing even pre-pandemic levels in some instances. In traffic results released for March, the ‘Big Three’ — comprising Air China, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines — hailed the “steady recovery” of passenger traffic, particularly in their domestic networks. The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) disclosed in March that Chinese carriers are expected to recover around 90% of pre-pandemic traffic this year, underscoring the recovery China is experiencing after claiming to have controlled the coronavirus outbreak. Compared to March 2020 the ‘Big Three’ have seen domestic passenger numbers nearly triple, with capacity and traffic recording similar increases. Air China in March carried 7.5m domestic passengers, more than double the number flown in 2020. When compared to 2019, it represented a slight dip of just 0.3%. Traffic for the month also doubled year on year, and was about 0.6% higher than 2019 levels. Capacity saw a two-fold increase compared to 2020, and was 12% higher than 2019. The carrier also saw similar growth in its traffic results compared to February, when travel restrictions were still in force.<br/>
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SIA and Scoot will stop carrying transit passengers on their services from Singapore to Hong Kong due to new regulatory requirements in Hong Kong, both airlines said on Thursday. SIA's move will take effect from Saturday, while Scoot will stop carrying transit passengers from Singapore from Apr 30. "From 17 April 2021 until further notice, Singapore Airlines will stop carrying transit passengers on our services from Singapore to Hong Kong due to new regulatory requirements in Hong Kong. "Services from Hong Kong to Singapore remain unaffected, and passengers originating from Hong Kong will be allowed to transfer through Singapore Changi Airport en-route to their final destinations," said SIA. "We will be reaching out to all affected customers to offer the necessary assistance," said the airline. Scoot also said that the airline would also stop carrying transit passengers on its flights from Apr 30 "until further notice". Currently SIA passenger flights departing from Singapore have been barred from landing in Hong Kong from Apr 3 to Apr 16. <br/>