China’s year in aviation

At China’s National Civil Aviation Work Conference (held in Beijing, 24 – 25 December), the country’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAAC) presented a summary of the year in aviation, with statistics through 30 November, as well as predictions for full year 2014.

Here, as reported by World Civil Aviation Resources Net, are some of the highlights:

• Commercial Airlines: As of Nov. 30, 2014, China had a total of 51 commercial airlines.

• Commercial Aircraft: Chinese airlines currently operate 2,365 commercial aircraft, 186 more than the same period last year.

• Cargo: The CAAC predicts total cargo volume for 2014 will reach 5.91 million tonnes, up 5.3% over 2013.

• Passengers: The number of passengers travelling by air is expected to reach 390 million in 2014, up 10.1% from 2013.

• Profitability: In the first 11 months of this year, China’s civil aviation sector reported profits of US$4.81 billion (RMB29.9 billion), already surpassing the profits for the full year of 2013.

• Airports: Nine new airports have opened for service in 2014, bringing the total number of China’s civil airports to 202. Of these, 24 handled more than 10 million passengers, and 7 handled more than 30 million passengers.

• Routes: Chinese carriers have launched 146 new international routes in 2014.

• Flight hours: CAAC predicts China’s aviation industry will fly 7.62 million flight hours in 2014, up 10.2%  over 2013.

• Aircraft movements: The number of aircraft movements is predicted to be up 8.8% over 2013, to 3.35 million.

• Daily flights: Through 30 November, daily flights in China increased 9.6% over 2013, and average on-time performance increased 6.1% at the country’s eight busiest airports.