China will increase the number of its international flights by nearly 106 percent year on year during the winter and spring operation season. Officials say the number of international flights is expected to reach 420 per week between October 30 and March 25 next year. Many of China's major airlines have also taken measures to facilitate international travel. China Southern, for example, will resume weekly flights from Guangzhou to New York in December. And China Eastern will double its international flights to over 100 per week by the end of this month. Authorities say the number of passengers on international routes saw a significant growth in the third quarter of this year.
WU SHIJIE, Deputy Director, Aviation Safety Office, Civil Aviation Administration of China "In the third quarter, we had a total of 537-thousand passengers on international flights, 73.3 percent more than the second quarter, and 36.3 percent more than the same period last year. Demand for international cargo and mail transportation also remained high. In the third quarter, 639-thousand tons were handled, an increase of 7.7% year one year. The number of cargo flights saw a slight growth compared with the same period in 2019."
As for domestic flights within China, a total of 54 airlines will operate over 95-thousand passenger and cargo flights per week in the winter and spring season, an increase of 2.3 percent year on year. More than 92-thousand will be passenger flights, seeing a year-on-year growth of 2.4 percent. And the number of cargo flights per week is expected to decrease by nearly 1.5 percent.
