(Yicai) March 17 -- Airport passenger traffic in China continued to recover last year, rising 16 percent from the previous year and 8 percent from the pre-pandemic level in 2019.

Passenger throughput was 1.46 billion in the 12 months ended Dec. 31, according to statistics released by the Civil Aviation Administration of China last week. Forty Chinese airports handled more than 10 million passengers, with Shijiazhuang Zhengding International Airport and Sunan Shuofang International Airport joining the list.

Among cities, 26 saw an annual passenger throughput of over 20 million, with that in 15 exceeding 30 million. Shanghai Pudong International Airport, Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport, Beijing Capital International Airport, Shenzhen Baoan International Airport, and Chengdu Tianfu International Airport ranked top.

Shanghai, Beijing, and Chengdu, each having two major airports, rank as the top three cities by air passenger throughput.

Passenger traffic at Pudong Airport surged 41 percent last year from the year before, while that at Beijing Capital Airport and Beijing Daxing International Airport soared 27 percent and 26 percent, respectively. In addition, Guangzhou Baiyun Airport and Chengdu Tianfu Airport saw the figure jump more than 20 percent.

The rapid growth in passenger throughput at hub airports such as Pudong Airport was related to the accelerated recovery of international flights and a significant increase in inbound tourists last year, with traffic at international airports in China rising 19.3 percent to 661.2 million passengers, according to the civil aviation authority.

Shanghai's aviation market entered a phase of accelerated recovery last year, with the Shanghai Airport Authority adding 10 new travel destinations, including Venice and Kazan. Its network covers 291 destinations across 48 countries.

According to data released by the Shanghai Municipal Administration of Culture and Tourism, the city welcomed more than 6 million inbound tourists in 2024.

Editor: Martin Kadiev