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.
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%.
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.
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.
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.
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.
