Chinese airlines are rapidly scaling up the number of overseas flights following the country's lifting travel restrictions after the pandemic. The industry is confident the recovery will continue with more supportive measures in place.
The increase of Air China's flight capacity for international routes in February was up 167.4% year-on-year, following China Eastern Airlines' 425.9% increase and China Southern Airlines' 317% jump, according to operational data released by the carriers on Wednesday.
Similar growth was also reflected in their January financial reports, with the increase of the three giants' overseas passenger capacity up by more than 100%.
Although such increases are very impressive, market watchers noted that the eye-catching growth was due to airlines starting from an artificially low base due to travel restrictions.
Data from information provider VariFlight showed that the accumulated passenger flights as of Sunday were 25,900, an increase of 187% over the same period last year, but a decrease of 86% from the same period in 2019.
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