‘Good start’: Chinese Q1 passenger traffic hits historic high

Chinese carriers saw their Q1 passenger traffic reach an all-time high, with domestic traffic recovering well beyond pre-pandemic levels. Data from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) shows Chinese carriers to have carried close to 180m passengers in the January-March quarter this year, 38% higher year on year, and more than 10% higher compared to Q1 2019. System-wide traffic grew 46% year on year, and was 13% higher than pre-pandemic levels. Domestic traffic led the sharp increase seen in Q1: CAAC data indicates domestic passenger volumes, at 160m, were up 14% versus Q1 2019. International passenger volumes, however, have yet to recover fully. Chinese airlines carried 14.1m international passengers during the quarter, or about 78% of 2019 levels. CAAC data also shows that cargo volumes hit historic highs: Chinese operators carried slightly over 2t of cargo in the quarter, a 34% jump year on year and about 20% higher than 2019 volumes. The agency states: “In the first quarter of 2024, [the civil aviation sector] got off to a good start, with both passenger volumes and cargo…volumes hitting the highest values in the first quarter of previous years.”<br/>