China’s airline industry has collectively made RMB29.94 billion in profit for the first 11 months of 2014, already exceeded the total annual profit of 2013, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) announced on December 25.
The CAAC projects in its latest industry statistics that the industry will finish this year with 74.2 billion ton-km total annual transportation turnover, 390 million passenger throughput and 5.91 million tons of freight, a y-o-y increase of 10.4%, 10.1% and 5.3% respectively.
CAAC chairman Jiaxiang Li remarked that network optimization by major airlines gave a big boost to overall industry development. Large airports in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou have increased their passenger/freight turnover and enhanced their transportation hub role. Nine new airports have begun operations and construction has started on a new Beijing airport. Regional airlines and aviation in western regions are developing rapidly and transitioning to the low cost carrier (LCC) market.
In addition, China’s airlines have opened 146 new international air routes this year. China Eastern Airlines pioneered the first cross-border e-commerce professional association. Spring Airlines’ Japan offshoot became the first Chinese LCC to operate overseas. China Aviation Supplies Holdings purchased 259 aircraft, with US$1 billion in savings for the industry, and China National Aviation Fuel has extended overseas refueling service to 33 new airports in 17 countries.
“Our goals for next year are to achieve 81.72 billion ton-km in total transportation turnover with 430 million passenger trips and 6.27 million tons of freight, representing a growth of 10.2%, 10% and 6% respectively,” Mr. Li said.
In the first 11 months of the year, average daily flights in China increased 9.61% y-o-y and on-time-arrival/departure rate in the eight major airports improved by 6.1% y-o-y. Flight delay claims dropped 20% and cancelation claims also dropped 41.7% overall. (Translation by David)
