CCTV News: On April 27, the Civil Aviation Administration held a press conference to introduce the civil aviation production safety situation in the first quarter and March, and the civil aviation transportation guarantee arrangements during the May Day holiday, etc.
Shang Kejia, deputy director of the Transportation Department of the Civil Aviation Administration, introduced at the meeting that in the first quarter of this year, the international route network continued to expand, and the number of international flights and passengers further increased.
In terms of flight volume, Chinese and foreign airlines carry out an average of 6,395 international passenger flights per week, which is 83.9% of that in 2019. Among them, the peak Spring Festival travel rush hour saw 6,960 shifts per week, which was 91.3% of that in 2019. The number of flights from my country to 35 countries including Japan, the United Kingdom, Italy has exceeded the level in 2019, and the recovery rate of flights between countries jointly built the Belt and Road Initiative was 94.5%, exceeding the average by 10.6 percentage points.
In terms of passenger volume, taking Chinese airlines as an example, a total of 18.925 million international passengers were transported in the first quarter, a significant increase of 34% year-on-year, an increase of 4.5% over the same period in 2019. The passenger transport volume from my country to Northeast Asia, West Asia, Central Asia, Europe, Africa and other places increased by 20%, 91%, 233%, 71% and 241% respectively compared with 2019.
As of now, a total of 28 Chinese airlines and 100 foreign airlines operate international passenger routes in China. A total of 78 countries were sailed, a net increase of 4 countries from 2019. The traditional market route network between my country and Asia and Europe has been continuously improved, the routes with Latin America, South Pacific and African countries have been further expanded, and the accessibility of international flights has been further improved.
In the next step, the Civil Aviation Administration will continue to promote international passenger flight increase: on the one hand, for the traditional market, focus on "optimizing structure, improving quality, and maintaining stability", guide airlines to compete in differentiatedly, achieve stable progress, improve quality and efficiency; on the other hand, for emerging markets, airlines are encouraged to actively deploy and expand route networks, accelerate the construction of the air Silk Road, and better serve the overall national diplomacy and foreign trade.
