CHINA AVIATION MARKET

TRACKING THE TRAVEL RECOVERY IN CHINA

EXPLORE THE LATEST FLIGHT DATA TO TRACK THE TRAVEL RECOVERY IN CHINA | MARCH 2024


Flight data and analysis focused on China's aviation market recovery, with data powered by OAG's Schedules Analyser. The data is updated monthly. Seats are calculated as departing seats (one-way). The data displayed in the charts below is available to download here

  • Join our next Live Webinar on 17th April 2024| Register Now

TOP 10 BUSIEST AIRPORTS IN CHINA | MARCH 2024


KEY POINTS

  • Guangzhou Airport (CAN) is China's largest domestic airport this month, with 3.5m seats despite a decline in adjusted capacity (allowing for the different number of days in the month) of 6% vs last month.
  • The combined capacity of Beijing's PEK and PKX airports is 5.5m, ahead of the combined capacity of Shanghai (SHA & PVG) with 4.7m seats.
  • Beijing Capital Intl (PEK)  is China's second-largest domestic airport with 3.1m seats this month, a monthly increase of 11%.
  • Capacity at Chengdu (TFU) grew by 23% vs March last year, whilst the combined airports (CTU and TFU) grew at 13% compared to last March.      

 

TOP 10 DOMESTIC AIRLINES IN CHINA | MARCH 2024

China's Top 10 Airlines by departing seats (one way).

KEY POINTS

  • China Southern remains China's largest airline with scheduled seat capacity of 11.5m seats this month, representing 16% of the country's domestic capacity.
  • China's big three airlines continue to operate 42% of the country's domestic capacity, with a long tail of smaller players.
  • Air China has shown the most significant capacity growth compared to last year, boasting a 14% increase in March 2023.
  • Sichuan Airlines and Juneyao Airlines experienced the most significant reduction in daily capacity, with a decrease of 14% and 12% respectively.
  • Access the Most Accurate Flight Schedules Data | Discover OAG's Schedules Data

TOP 10 BUSIEST AIRLINE ROUTES IN CHINA | MARCH 2024


KEY POINTS

  • PEK-SHA is the busiest airline route this month, increasing capacity by 41% vs last month (when the length of the month is factored in) but still 11% lower than in March 23.
  • Daily capacity on HGH-PEK route increased by 37% vs last month, bringing it into 10th position and displacing CKG-SZX which is now the 13th busiest route.
  • Six of the Top 10 busiest routes in China's domestic market start or end in Beijing this month. 
  • Busiest Routes Right Now > the world's busiest airline routes | View Now

CHINA'S BUSIEST CITIES BY AIRLINE CAPACITY | MARCH 2024


KEY POINTS

  • Beijing is the busiest city - in terms of airline capacity - with 5.1m seats served through its two airports Beijing Capital International Airport and Beijing Daxing International. Over 580k seats more than the next busiest city.
  • Shanghai is the second busiest city, with 4.5m seats served through its two airports Shanghai Hongqiao International and Shanghai Pudong International Apt. Over 1.1m seats more than the third busiest city.
  • Chengdu is the third busiest city, not far behind Shanghai now, with 4.2m seats in February 2024.
  • Busiest Routes Right Now > the world's busiest airline routes | View Now

DOMESTIC VS INTERNATIONAL AIRLINE CAPACITY | MARCH 2024


KEY POINTS

  • Domestic capacity accounts for 92.6% of all seats to, from and within China this month, with international capacity making up the remaining 7.4%. 
  • There has been a notable increase in international capacity over the past year.

DISTRIBUTION OF CHINA'S INTERNATIONAL AIRLINE CAPACITY BY COUNTRY | MARCH 2024


KEY POINTS

  • Japan is the largest outbound market by seat capacity this month, growing significantly vs last year but still not back to 2019 levels.
  • Capacity between China and Thailand decreased by 5% in March 24, making it the second busiest market this month, still 41% lower than in March 2019.
  • The Republic of Korea and Hong Kong are the third and fourth largest outbound markets by seat capacity in March 24, both making significant increases vs last year.
  • China's Domestic Market: Holidaying at Home | Read Now

TOP 10 PROVINCES BY SEAT CAPACITY | MARCH 2024


The table and graph show domestic airline capacity by Chinese province.

KEY POINTS

  • The table shows domestic capacity by Chinese Province for this month (Mar 2024) as well as last month (Feb 2024) and the same month last year (Mar 23).
  • The largest Province for scheduled airline capacity remains the Guangdong Province, accounting for 11% of all scheduled departing capacity.  The gap between Guangdong and the next closest, Beijing Province, is 2.6m seats.
  • Beijing Province had the largest monthly increase in capacity, increasing by 8% vs last month.
  • Sichuan Province continues to record the strongest growth relative to last year, increasing by 14% in March 24.
  • The top 10 Provinces combined continue to account for 60% of all China's domestic capacity. 

RELATED CONTENT


MONTHLY OTP FLIGHT STATISTICS

Access on-time performance data for airlines and airports.

BUSIEST ROUTES RIGHT NOW

View the world's busiest international and domestic flight routes.

FUTURE OF TRAVEL

Discover the new technology shaping the future of travel for airlines, travel companies and tourists.

LATEST INSIGHTS


Future of Travel

In our ongoing exploration of innovation in the airline sector, we've previously delved into how technology and th...

Infographics

Updated 8th March 2024. OAG's monthly aviation data highlights the global markets that are recovering and growing,...

Spain’s announcement of plans to switch domestic flights to rail services is another step on the journey to increa...