On June 5, China’s civil aviation sector transported a total of 1.0367 million passengers, which was 61.5% that of 2019. This is the first time since January 28 that the passenger traffic in a single day crossed the mark of 1 million. A total of 11,333 flights were operated, the highest number since February.

Affected by the COVID-19 outbreak, civil aviation passenger traffic has declined sharply since the beginning of 2020. Before the outbreak of COVID-19, civil aviation operated an average of 17,300 flights a day during the Spring Festival travel rush, with a maximum of nearly 2 million passengers transported every day. Starting from January 23, both passenger traffic and the number of flights dropped sharply and came to the lowest levels on February 23 at 132,900 and 3,931 respectively, which were only about 7.5% and 23% of the levels in normal times.

As the outbreak has leveled off across the country, civil aviation transport has gradually recovered since late February. In March, the sector transported an average of 458,300 passengers per day on 6,538 flights. In April, the two numbers rose to 522,700 and 6,950 respectively. In May, the sector recovered at a quicker pace, with an average of 785,800 passengers carried and 9,487 flights performed per day. From June 1 to 5, an average of 935,200 passengers were carried and 10,570 flights performed each day, which were 57.4% and 66.11% of those in the same period last year, with the passenger load factor reaching nearly 70%.