At late night of December 31, 2017, the whole city of Beijing seemed asleep except that Beijing Capital International Airport, which was located in northeast of Beijing, was still busy receiving incoming flights. CAAC Party Secretary and Administrator Feng Zhenglin visited the three terminals of the airport, and extended his regards to aircrews from multiple flights upon their safe return.
It was rather freezing in such winter nights. When the last flight of Air China landed at the airport, Feng Zhenglin stepped into the cabin and shook hands with the crew members, expressing his gratitude for their hard work throughout the year and congratulations on their success in ensuring all-year flight safety. He said, “I’d like to wish you a happy new year on behalf of CAAC! You’ve done a great job! In 2017, China’s civil aviation industry made remarkable achievements and created enormous economic and social benefits, which has further highlighted the status of the civil aviation industry as one of the major national strategic industries. The achievements shall be attributed to the efforts by each and every one in the civil aviation industry. As an airline which bears the national flag, Air China not only represents the image of our country, but also plays a key role in civil aviation development. I hope that Air China could continue to demonstrate its excellent quality as the flag-bearing airline and do a better job in the next year.” Feng Zhenglin also greeted a number of flights of Shenzhen Airlines, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines, and sent flowers and new-year wishes to the crews.
At the turn of the year, Feng Zhenglin welcomed the new 2018 together with the aircrew of Hainan Airlines flying the last flight of 2017. He encouraged them to, guided by the goal of building China into a civil aviation powerhouse, implement the instructions of the 19th CPC Congress, shoulder their responsibilities, create better travel conditions for passengers with sincere service, and build a better image of the industry.
Feng Zhenglin also conveyed greetings to maintenance, ground handling and security screening staff members. He said, “Maintenance system serves as an important foundation for guaranteeing civil aviation safety. Civil aviation in China owes its high level of safety to the diligent work of maintenance staff who keep practicing the spirit of craftsman. Security screening is another key factor to flight safety. Hope you all do a better job in the new year!”
Aircrew, maintenance, ground handling and security screening staff were greatly encouraged, saying “Thank you for the care and love you give us! We will try harder to guarantee flight safety and provide better service for passengers in the coming year!”
The civil aviation industry developed rapidly in 2017 while maintaining safe and steady operation. It is estimated that in the whole year the industry will register a total of 10.59 million flight hours, involving 4.36 million flights, a respective year-on-year growth rate of 11.6% and 10.1%. The total annual air transport will for the first time exceed 10 million flight hours. It is expected that the total RTK in 2017 will be 108.3 billion ton-km, the passenger traffic 549 million, and cargo and mail traffic 7.12 million tons, representing a year-on-year growth rate of 12.5%, 12.6% and 6.6% respectively.
