CHINA AVIATION MARKET

Flight data insights and aviation analysis focused on China's airline market , with data powered by OAG's Schedules Analyser.

Here's an overview of the top statistics from China's aviation market this month:

• The busiest airport: Baiyun International (CAN) 
• Top Chinese airline (domestic): China Southern Airlines
• The busiest domestic air route in China: Shanghai Hongqiao to Shenzhen (SHA - SZN)
• China's biggest city for air capacity: Beijing
• The top country Chinese travellers fly to: The Republic of Korea
• Scroll down for more data from each category.

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.

Which are China's biggest airports?

• Baiyun International (CAN) remains China's busiest domestic airport in January 2026 with 3.4m seats. Capacity has remained constant year-on-year.
• Shenzhen (SZN) and Beijing Capital (PEK) airports follow closely as the second and third busiest airports, with 3.1m and 2.9m seats respectively and similar growth rates.
• Kunming Airport recorded the steepest decline, with capacity down 7% year-on-year. Xi’an Xianyang Airport also experienced a significant reduction, with capacity 5% lower than in January 2025.
  

What are China's Top Airlines?

• China Southern Airlines remains the busiest airline in China in January 2026 with 10.7m seats, representing 15% of the domestic market.
• China Eastern Airlines is the second busiest airline in China with 10m seats in January 2026 and a 14% share of the market. However, capacity is down 6% year-on-year.
• Percentage-wise, Spring Airlines has recorded the biggest increase in capacity again vs last year, with 15% more domestic seats than January 2025. They now represent 4% of the Chinese domestic market.
  
  
• The majority of the other airlines in the Top 10 reduced airline capacity between 2% and 7% compared to January 2025.

Which are the Most Flown Airline Routes in China?

• Shanghai Hongqiao to Shenzhen (SHA - SZN) remains China's busiest route in January 2026 with 647k seats, a capacity increase of 27% year-on-year. Beijing Capital Airport to Shanghai Hongqiao (PEK-SHA) is the second busiest route again this month with 633k seats.
• Capacity grew fastest on several Shenzhen routes, including Shanghai Hongqiao-Shenzhen and Hangzhou-Shenzhen (CAN-SHA), which both grew by 27% vs last year. Shenzhen - Beijing Capital (SZN-PEK) also recorded strong year-on-year growth, up 10% this month.
  

Which Chinese Cities are Key For Air Travel?

• Beijing remains the busiest city in China in January 2026 with 5.3m seats through the 2 main airports, representing 8% of the market.
• Shanghai is the second busiest city with 4.7m seats in January 2026, representing 7% of the market.
• Capacity to and from the cities of Haikou and Kunming decreased at the fastest rate of 10% and 7% respectively vs January 2025.
  

The table shows domestic capacity by Chinese Province for this month and the same month last year.