(Yicai Global) Sept. 16 -- The passenger turnover of several Chinese airlines climbed more than 50 percent year on year in August, according to operational results disclosed by airlines, including Air China, last night, indicating continued recovery in the civil aviation industry.

The passenger turnover of Air China and its subsidiaries in August jumped 56.4 percent from a year earlier, the country’s flagship airline announced. The domestic passenger turnover surged 60.1 percent from a year earlier.

With a figure of 67.72 percent, China Southern Airlines became the airline with the highest yearly growth rate in passenger turnover in August, with 70.06 percent of domestic growth and 23.16 percent internationally. At the same time, the Guangzhou-based carrier achieved a passenger load factor of 68.91 percent last month, up 8.55 percentage points annually.

China Eastern Airlines topped in passenger load factor. The Shanghai-headquartered airline achieved an overall passenger load factor of 67.01 percent last month, with an eye-catching yearly growth of 62.14 percent in passenger turnover.

There were 608,000 flights in the summer of this year, recovering to 65 percent of the same period in 2019, and flights on some domestic routes far exceeded that of before the Covid-19 pandemic, according to data from the 2022 summer civil aviation operation summary disclosed by flight information provider Flight Master recently.

In addition to the recovery of domestic demand, major airlines have also been actively resuming international routes. Take Air China for example. On Sept. 8, Air China announced the resumption of its flight from Chengdu to Frankfurt, Germany, with a round-trip flight every Thursday.

China Eastern has resumed 25 international routes this month, with Air China and China Southern also recovering more than 30 routes, Shanghai Securities News reported today.

Hainan Airlines, meanwhile, has resumed or opened nine international round-trip passenger routes, including Beijing-Brussels, Shenzhen-Vancouver, Beijing-Moscow, and Beijing-Tokyo and Beijing-Belgrade.

Editor: Peter Thomas