Singapore Airlines CEO says travel out of China not yet recovered

Air travel demand from China is not back to pre-pandemic levels for Singapore Airlines, but a visa-free scheme for Chinese citizens to the Asian hub has helped fill seats and the airline will add more China capacity this year, its CEO said on Thursday. Global aviation capacity returned to pre-pandemic levels this year, but recovery has been slower in Asia's aviation industry due to still-sluggish international demand in China, the world's second-largest economy. "Travel into China has been strong, travel out of China has not yet recovered fully," Singapore Airlines CEO Goh Choon Phong told media. He said the visa-free scheme between China and Singapore which began in February has provided "some lift to load factors" for Chinese flights. The airlines group was progressively restoring China capacity and would increase seats to Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou this year, Goh added. The flag carrier suspended April flights to China's Chengdu, Chongqing, and Xiamen, citing a lack of regulatory approvals. These are now in place and flights will operate until July, when permissions must be re-sought, Goh said.<br/>