China aviation market

Explore Chinese flight statistics at a glance

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 Eastern Airlines
• The busiest domestic air route in China: Beijing Capital Airport to Shanghai Hongqiao (PEK-SHA)
• 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.

Top 10 busiest airports in China

Which are China's biggest airports?

• Baiyun International (CAN) remains China’s busiest domestic airport in April 2026, with 3.3 million seats, a 2.6% increase year-on-year.
• Shenzhen (SZN) and Beijing Capital (PEK) airports remain the second and third busiest airports, with 2.97m and 2.82m seats respectively.
• Chengdu recorded the fastest capacity growth year-on-year at 9.2%, followed by Shanghai Pudong at 8.3%.
  
• READY TO VIEW: The World's Busiest Airports of 2025

Top 10 domestic airlines in China

What are China's top airlines?

• China Southern is the busiest airline in April 2026, operating 10.5 million seats and holding 15% of the domestic market.
• China Eastern Airlines holds a 14% share of the domestic market, with 10 million seats in April 2026.
• Shandong Airlines reduced capacity by 10.2% vs April 2025.
  

Top 10 busiest airline routes in China

Which are the most flown airline routes in China?

• Beijing Capital Airport to Shanghai Hongqiao (PEK-SHA) is China's busiest route again in April 2026, with 634,300 seats - despite a 0.4% reduction in capacity.
• Shanghai Hongqiao to Shenzhen (SHA - SZN) is the second busiest route with 611,200 seats, an increase of 2.8% vs April 2025.
• Capacity reduced at the fastest rate on the Guangzhou Baiyun to Shanghai Pudong route, a reduction of 4.2% vs April 2025.

China's busiest cities by airline capacity

Which Chinese cities are key for air travel?

• Beijing remains China’s busiest city for air travel in April 2026, with 5.2 million seats across its two main airports, representing 7% of the market.
• Shanghai is the second busiest city with 4.8 million seats. It also has a 7% share of the market.
• Capacity at the cities of Chengdu, Hangzhou and Nanjing grew at the fastest rates of 7% and 6% respectively vs last year.
  

What percentage of Chinese airline capacity is domestic?

Distribution of China's international airline capacity by country

Which countries do Chinese travellers visit?

• The Republic of Korea is China's busiest international market with 954,660 seats, up 16% year-on-year.
• Hong Kong and Thailand are the second and third-busiest markets, with 726,200 and 693,400 seats. This represents a 13% and 14% increase vs April 2025, respectively.
• Capacity to Japan continues to reduce significantly year on year by 51% to 538,300 seats.
• International capacity increased at the fastest rate to Türkiye and Laos by 65% and 62% respectively. Both remain smaller markets with 92,600 to/from Türkiye and 88,300 seats to/from Laos.
• Malaysia and Russia remain amongst the fastest-growing international markets, both increasing by 35% vs April 2025.

Top 10 Chinese provinces by seat capacity

• Guangdong remains China’s largest province for scheduled domestic capacity, with 7.9 million seats, representing 11% of all departing seats in April 2026. This is 2.7 million more seats than Beijing, the second-largest province.
• Xinjiang Province again recorded the fastest capacity growth this month, up 19% year on year.
• Shaanxi Province displaced Hainan Province from the Top 10, moving it to 12th position.
  

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