I. Connected Cities and Airports

In 2017, there were 229 licensed civil airports in total in China’s mainland (Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan excluded, the same below), among which there were 228 airports with scheduled flights. A total of 224 cities were connected by scheduled flights.

The newly-added cities connected by scheduled flights included Lancang in Yunnan Province, Shache in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Huolinguole in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Songyuan in Jilin Province, Baicheng in Jilin Province, Shangrao in Jiangxi Province, Chengde in Hebei Province, Shaoyang in Hunan Province, Wudalianchi in Heilongjiang Province, and Jiansanjiang in Heilongjiang Province. Ankang Airport in Shaanxi Province still suspended its service.

II. Major Production Indicators

In 2017, main production indicators of airports in China maintained a steady and rapid growth. Passenger traffic throughout the year exceeded 1.1 billion, which was 1147.867 million, to be exact, 12.9% higher over the previous year, among which 1036.146 million passengers were transported by domestic routes, 13.4% higher than that of last year (including 27.109 million passengers carried by routes between the mainland and Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, a drop of 1.9% from the previous year); and 111.721 million passengers were transported by international routes, an increase of 9.2% over last year.

The total amount of cargo and mail handled reached 16.177 million tons, 7.1% higher than that of last year, among which 10.001 million tons of cargo and mail were transported by domestic routes, a year-on-year increase of 2.7% (including 990,000 tons transported by routes between the mainland and Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, 5.8% higher than that of the previous year); and 6.176 million tons of cargo and mail were transported by international routes, 15.2% higher than that of the previous year.

Aircraft movements in 2017 were 10.249 million in total, growing by 10.9% over last year (including 8.729 million transport movements, 10.0% higher than that in 2016), among which 9.38 million movements were by domestic routes, 11.3% higher than that of last year (including 192,000 movements by routes between the mainland and Hon Kong, Macao and Taiwan, decreasing by 5.4% over the previous year); and 869,000 movements were by international routes, 7.3％ higher than that of the previous year.

III. Distribution of Passenger Traffic

Among all the airports, there were 32 airports with an annual passenger traffic of over 10 million in 2017, an increase of four over last year (Taiyuan Wusu Airport, Changchun Longjia Airport, Nanchang Changbei Airport and Hohhot Baita Airport). The total passenger traffic of the 32 airports accounted for 81.0% of the total of all the airports in China’s mainland, increasing by 1.9% over the previous year. The total passenger traffic of airports in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou made up 24.3% of that of all the airports in China’s mainland, decreasing by 1.9% over last year. There were 26 airports with an annual passenger traffic of 2-10 million in 2017, an increase of five over last year. The total passenger traffic of these airports accounted for 11.8% of that of all the airports in China’s mainland, a drop of 1.0% over the previous year. There were 171 airports with an annual passenger traffic of less than 2 million, an increase of two over last year. Their total passenger traffic accounted for 7.3% of that of all the airports in China’s mainland, decreasing by 0.8% over last year.

The distribution of passenger traffic in the various areas of China is as follows: North China, 15.0% (15.3%), Northeast China, 6.3% (6.1%), East China, 29.0% (29.0%), Central and South China, 24.2% (23.8%), Southwest China, 16.5% (16.9%), Northwest China, 6.4% (6.2%), and Xinjiang, 2.6% (2.7%). (Note: the percentages are rounded numbers, so the sum of all percentages may not equal 100%. Numbers in brackets are percentages in 2016, the same below).

IV. Distribution of Cargo & Mail Handled at Airports

Among all the airports, there were 52 airports with over 10,000 tons of cargo and mail handled annually, an increase of two over last year. Cargo and mail handled by these airports accounted for 98.5% of that of all the airports in China’s mainland, increasing by 0.2% over last year. The total amount of cargo and mail handled at airports in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou totaled up to 49.9% of that of all the airports in China’s mainland, with an increase of 0.3% over the previous year. There were 177 airports with an annual cargo and mail traffic of less than 10 000 tons, an increase of 9 over last year. Their total amount of cargo and mail handled accounted for 1.5% of that of all the airports in China’s mainland, decreasing by 0.2% over last year.

The distribution of cargo and mail traffic in the various areas of China is as follows: North China, 15.4% (15.8%), Northeast China, 3.4% (3.5%), East China, 41.2% (40.4%), Central and South China, 26.2% (26.4%), Southwest China, 10.1% (10.2%), Northwest China, 2.5% (2.4%), and Xinjiang, 1.2% (1.2%).