China’s three largest carriers reported a significant rebound in passenger traffic in 2023, though they have yet to fully recover traffic to pre-pandemic levels seen in 2019.
In traffic results released for 2023, the ‘Big Three’ – comprising Air China, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines – saw slow recovery in their international traffic, most of which were still about half of 2019 levels.
The data also shows that Air China and China Southern’s domestic traffic and passenger volumes also surpassed 2019 levels, while China Eastern only recovered domestic traffic levels.
Air China carried 118.5 million domestic passengers in 2023, about twice the number reported in 2022, and 28% higher compared to full-year results for 2019.
The growth in domestic passengers made up for a slower recovery of international passenger numbers, which at 6.7 million was less than half of 2019’s numbers.
Across its network, Air China carried more than 128 million passengers, up about two-fold year on year, and 11% higher than 2019 levels.
The Beijing-based operator also saw system-wide traffic and capacity double year on year, with the sharpest increases seen in the international network.
While domestic RPKs surpassed pre-pandemic levels, system-wide traffic remained slightly below that of 2019. On the other hand, Air China’s overall capacity increased compared to pre-pandemic levels, despite international capacity being half of 2019’s.
China Southern, meanwhile, carried 131.6 million domestic passengers during the year, about 2% more than 2019 levels. The figure is also a two-fold increase year on year.
However, its passenger volumes across the network, at 142.2 million, is about 6% lower than pre-pandemic levels.
System-wide traffic and capacity were double that of 2022, but when compared to pre-pandemic data, were down 13% and 8% respectively. Like Air China, China Southern saw an uptick in domestic traffic against 2019 levels, but this was offset by slow recovery in international traffic.
As for China Eastern, its domestic passenger volumes for 2023 – at 106 million – were about 2% below that of pre-pandemic 2019, and more than twice compared to the year-ago period.
However, the SkyTeam member saw domestic traffic grow compared to 2019 at about 5%.
China Eastern saw a 17% decline in system-wide traffic against 2019, despite the recovery in domestic operations. As for capacity, it shrank 9% against pre-pandemic data, even as domestic capacity grew about 16%.
The 2023 traffic results marks the first full year of operations for Chinese carriers since Beijing dropped its onerous ‘zero-Covid’ restrictions, which saw the country’s international borders tightly shut for about three years.
Since the border reopening, Chinese carriers have flagged a slower-than-expected recovery in their international operations, amid a tepid macroeconomic environment and simmering geopolitical tensions.
