Air China posted a 14.9% increase in passenger traffic in December, with regional traffic registering the strongest growth.

Domestic RPKs rose 12.5%, international RPKs increased 17.2% and regional RPKs jumped 28.5%, says the airline.

Air China's regional figures refer to traffic from Hong Kong and Macau.

In real terms, the total number of passengers grew 14.1% to 3.2 million. Domestic passenger numbers rose 12.2% to 2.6 million, international passenger numbers grew 21.1% to 485,600 and regional numbers increased 36% to 116,600.

Overall capacity, as measured by ASKs, rose 11.3%. Domestic ASKs grew 10.2%, international ASKs rose 12.2% and regional ASKs increased 19.5%, says the airline.

As a result, the overall passenger load factor grew 2.4 percentage points to 75.9%. The domestic passenger load factor was up 1.6 percentage points to 74.1%, the international passenger load factor grew 3.4 percentage points to 78.8% and the regional passenger load factor jumped 5.2 percentage points to 74.3%.

In terms or cargo, overall revenue freight tonne kilometres (RFTKs) grew 41.7%, says the airline. Domestic RFTKs rose 22.1%, international RFTKs 47.3% and regional RFTKs 105.8%.

Source: Air Transport Intelligence news