Air Transport

China Southern Airlines' passenger traffic grew by nearly a third in August with all three segments registering double-digit growth.

The Guangzhou-based carrier's RPKs increased by 31% year-on-year. International RPKs were up 20%, regional - referring to Hong Kong and Macau - was up 18%, and domestic up 33%.

In real terms, the number of passengers carried rose 33% to 6.5 million. Domestic passenger numbers rose 34% to 6 million, regional numbers were up 14% at 116,000, and international figures rose 17% to 376,000.

Capacity, as measured by ASKs, rose 22% during in August. Domestic ASKs were up 24%, the regional market was up 4% and the international segment rose 7%.

The increase in capacity was unable to match the rise in demand, so the overall passenger load factor rose by 5.7 percentage points to 77.4%. Domestic passenger load factor rose 5.2 percentage points to 77.8%, regional loads rose 9.6 percentage points to 77%, and international rose 8 percentage points to 74.5%.

In terms of the cargo business, overall revenue freight tonne kilometres rose 23%. Domestic cargo traffic was up 16%, the international segment was 35% higher, and the regional market fell by 20%.