CHINA AVIATION MARKET
TRACKING THE TRAVEL RECOVERY IN CHINA
EXPLORE THE LATEST FLIGHT DATA TO TRACK THE TRAVEL RECOVERY IN CHINA | NOVEMBER 2023
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.
TOP 10 BUSIEST AIRPORTS IN CHINA | NOVEMBER 2023
KEY POINTS
- Beijing Capital Airport (PEK) is China's largest domestic airport this month, by just 42,000 seats.
- The combined position for PEK and PKX however is 5.3m, ahead of Shanghai (SHA & PVG) with 4.5m.
- Shenzhen (SZK) is China's second-largest domestic airport with 2.9m seats this month although capacity at SZX is flat compared with last month.
- Shenzhen, Shanghai Pudong and Hangzhou all are recording a similar level of recovery versus 2019, between 22-24%.
TOP 10 DOMESTIC AIRLINES IN CHINA | NOVEMBER 2023
China's Top 10 Airlines by departing seats (one way).
KEY POINTS
- China Southern remains China's largest airline, with scheduled seat capacity of 10.85m seats this month. This represents:
- an increase of 9% on November 2019,
- a decline of 5% on last month.
- China's big 3 airlines combined operate 44% of the country's domestic capacity this November - an increase from the 42% combined share operated in November 2019.
- Spring Airlines, China's biggest low-cost carrier (LCC) operator, is increasingly recording strong growth against 2019, up 27%.
- All of the other Top 10 largest airlines in China are either recording a decrease month-on-month or capacity has remained static.
TOP 10 BUSIEST AIRLINE ROUTES IN CHINA | NOVEMBER 2023
KEY POINTS
- Compared to last month, five of the Top 10 busiest routes have increased capacity - the highest increase (+9%) is between Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport and Hangzhou International Airport (CAN-HGH).
- Both Beijing routes to Guangzhou (CAN-PEK and CAN-PKX) have seen capacity fall this month compared to last month, collectively by 6.8%.
- Six of the Top 10 busiest routes in China's domestic market start or end in Beijing this month.
DOMESTIC VS INTERNATIONAL AIRLINE CAPACITY | NOVEMBER 2023
KEY POINTS
- Domestic capacity accounts for 93.3% of all seats to, from and within China this month, with international making up the remaining 6.7%.
- Domestic capacity is 11% ahead of 2019, whilst international seats are just 57% of November 2019.
DISTRIBUTION OF CHINA'S INTERNATIONAL AIRLINE CAPACITY BY COUNTRY | NOVEMBER 2023
KEY POINTS
- UAE is the most recovered of the Top 10 largest outbound country markets this month, airline capacity is just 7% below 2019.
- Thailand is the least recovered, seats are still 57% below 2019 (despite the recent visa relaxation for Chinese visitors to Thailand).
- Japan, which was the largest outbound market by seat capacity in November 2019, also remains at a similar level with just 56% of 2019 seat capacity operating.
- In the last month capacity recovery continues between China and Australia, with 20% more seats month-on-month.
TOP 10 PROVINCES BY SEAT CAPACITY | NOVEMBER 2023
The table and graph show domestic airline capacity by Chinese province.
KEY POINTS
- The largest Province for scheduled airline capacity remains Guangdong Province accounting for 11% of all scheduled departing capacity. The gap between Guangdong and the next closest, Beijing Province is still over 2m seats.
- The Sichuan Province continues to record the strongest growth when compared to 2019, with 64% more seats this November.
- Both the Beijing and Zhejiang Provinces also recorded strong growth compared to 2019.
- The top 10 Provinces combined account for 60% of all China's domestic capacity.
- Only the Hainan Province saw month-on-month growth, up by 5% on October, reflecting the strong demand for travel to China's Hawaii, Sanya on Hainan Island.
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