Chinese aviation sector sees 11.8% growth in transported passengers during 5-day May Day holiday

Chinese aviation industry recorded double-digit growth in transported passengers during the five-day May Day holiday, signaling a strong recovery driven by surging travel demand from sightseers. 

During the long holiday, civil aviation across China handled a total of 11.15 million passenger trips, with a daily average of 2.23 million, an increase of 55.4 percent over 2019 and 11.8 percent over 2024, data from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) showed on Tuesday. 

Chinese airlines and airports reported record high transported passengers during May Day holiday and the outbound and inbound travel witnessed a double-digit growth during the holiday. 

During the May Day holiday, China Eastern Airlines operated a total of 15,200 flights, a year-on-year increase of 19.8 percent; and transported 2.173 million passenger trips, a year-on-year increase of 16.1 percent, setting a record for the period, the airline said. 

Of these, China Eastern Airlines operated 2,090 international and regional flights, and transported 338,000 passengers, marking a year-on-year increase of 24.9 percent. 

China Eastern Airlines' 10 domestically-produced C919 aircraft operated 182 flights and transported 26,470 passengers during the holiday period. 

Beijing Daxing International Airport handled a total of 4,824 flights during the period, averaging approximately 965 flights per day. The airport also recorded a total passenger throughput of 763,900, with a daily average of around 152,800 passenger trips. Compared to the same holiday period last year, flight numbers increased by 8.9 percent, while passenger traffic rose by 15.9 percent, setting a new record for the same period since the airport began operations.

Shanghai's two major airports also recorded historic highs in flights and passenger traffic, handling 12,000 take-offs and landings, a year-on-year increase of 6.2 percent, carrying 1.937 million inbound and outbound passengers, with an average daily passenger flow of 387,000, a year-on-year increase of 14.1 percent. They also handled 568,000 inbound and outbound passengers, with an average daily flow of 114,000, a year-on-year increase of 24 percent. 

In an earlier forecast, the CAAC predicted that transported passengers during the May Day holiday would reach a record high.  It anticipated that both passenger numbers and flight volumes during the holidays will reach a peak since the second quarter. Popular destinations were concentrated in Japan, South Korea and traditional tourism sites across Southeast Asia.

According to industry data shared with the Global Times by VariFlight, Japan was the most popular international destination during the holiday. The number of domestic passenger flights to and from Japan exceeded 2,000, a year-on-year increase of 53 percent. The number of domestic passenger flights to and from South Korea was 1,588, marking a year-on-year increase of 18 percent.

Another industry information provider Umetrip reported that the Seoul, Hong Kong and Osaka were the top three destinations for Chinese mainland travelers during the May Day holiday. The total number of passenger flights on inbound and outbound routes exceeded 11,000, an increase of about 12 percent over the same period last year.