China's civil aviation industry aims to promote a significant increase in direct flights between China and the US, and promote the operation of the domestically manufactured C919 in more countries, as part of new moves to further lift air travel.
The remarks were made at the annual meeting of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) on Thursday, which summarized the industry's performance in 2023 and mapped out tasks for 2024.
Expanding overseas flights is among the CAAC's priorities. The CAAC forecast that China's international passenger traffic will continue to recover, and the number of flights is expected to reach 6,000 per week by year-end, recovering to 80 percent of pre-epidemic levels.
Further increasing direct flights between China and the US is at the top of the list.
Overall, international flights in 2023 recovered to more than 4,600 per week, compared with fewer than 500 per week at the beginning of last year.
Regarding Chinese-made aircraft, the CAAC said it will promote the approval review of the C919 aircraft for the European Aviation Safety Agency, which aims to allow the aircraft to operate in more countries.
In 2024, China's domestic passenger transport will continue to grow steadily, and ridership on domestic routes is expected to reach 630 million people by year-end, exceeding 2019 by 7.7 percentage points, CAAC said.
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