At its annual meeting on January 9, 2025, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) announced that the country’s civil aviation sector achieved profitability in 2024.
In 2024, the industry recorded a total transportation turnover of 148.52 billion ton-kilometers, a passenger volume of 730 million, and a cargo/mail transport volume of 8.982 million tons. These figures represent year-on-year increases of 25%, 17.9%, and 22.1% respectively, and rises of 14.8%, 10.6%, and 19.3% compared to 2019.
The industry reduced losses by USD 2.94 billion compared to 2023, marking a significant milestone as it returned to profitability.
Operational efficiency also improved, with daily utilization rate of aircraft reaching 8.9 hours, an increase of 0.8 hours year-on-year. Passenger load factor rose to 83.3%, up by 5.4 percentage points year-on-year and exceeding the 2019 level by 0.1 percentage points. Similarly, cargo load factor improved to 72%, an increase of 4.3 percentage points year-on-year and 0.4 percentage points higher than in 2019.
By the end of 2024, aviation network in China had expanded its coverage, reaching 92.6% of county-level administrative regions, 91.2% of the population, and 94.3% of the national economic output.
International air travel also saw a resurgence, with weekly international passenger flights increasing to 6,400, recovering to 84% of pre-pandemic levels.
New air routes to 19 "Belt and Road Initiative" partner countries further boosted connectivity, leading to significant growth in passenger volumes to Central Asia (up 152.4%), Western Asia (up 49.5%), and Europe (up 25.7%) compared to 2019.
In addition to operational achievements, China’s aviation industry made strides in technological innovation and global market presence. The domestically developed C919 aircraft carried over one million passengers in 2024, marking a new phase of scaled development and multi-user operations. The C909 aircraft also exceeded 500,000 operational hours, further demonstrating the capabilities of China’s aviation manufacturing sector.
Additionally, China's independently developed AES100 turboshaft engine has obtained type certification.
The C909 and Y12E aircraft models received approval from Mongolia and Brazil, respectively, paving the way for overseas expansion.
