China’s civil aviation industry has seen steady growth in terms of overseas transport in the first half of this year, with routes to Central Asia and Latin America surging over 70 percent year-on-year, as reported in The Global Times.
China added seven new international passenger destinations and 19 new international cargo destinations. Both passenger and cargo traffic volumes by Chinese airlines to the Asian and European markets increased by more than 20 percent year-on-year, the Xinhua News Agency reported, citing data from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC).
Passenger traffic to Central Asia grew by 79.8 percent, followed by 78.5 percent growth for Latin America. The significant growth in international transport has become a highlight in China’s civil aviation development, the CAAC said.
Expansion of China-Central Asia connectivity
China-Central Asia air connectivity has been expanding. Data from Flight Master sent to the Global Times showed that in June, the recovery rate of flights between the Chinese mainland and Uzbekistan (compared with 2019) was 589 percent, and the recovery rate of flights between the Chinese mainland and Kazakhstan was 237 percent, with more than 900 flights to Kazakhstan throughout June.
Kazakhstan and China have agreed to significantly expand scheduled air services between the two countries, reports the Times of Central Asia. The two sides agreed to increase the number of scheduled passenger flights operated by airlines of both countries from 124 to 152 flights per week. They also expanded the list of major Chinese destinations available for air services with Kazakhstan to 11 cities, adding Chongqing,
China Eastern Airlines on 16 July launched direct flights between Shanghai and Tbilisi, offers three round-trip flights a week, operating on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.
On July 1, Kazakhstan’s FlyArystan-operated Airbus A320 landed at Xi’an Xianyang International Airport in Northwest China’s Shaanxi Province, marking the inaugural flight of the scheduled route between Kazakhstan’s capital Almaty and Xi’an.
Chengdu Airlines began operating direct regular passenger flights on the Kashgar-Khujand-Kashgar route on July 1.
Kyrgyzstan’s Aero Nomad Airlines will launch a new direct route between Bishkek and Urumqi, the capital of China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on August 3.
On March 30, China Eastern Airlines launched a direct flight between Shanghai and Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, operating four times a week.
Also in March, China Southern Airlines flight CZ8147, carrying 134 passengers, departed from Guangzhou, South China’s Guangdong Province, and landed at Manas International Airport in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, marking the successful inaugural flight of the airline’s direct Guangzhou-Bishkek passenger service which operates twice a week.
Cathay Pacific will become the sole airline to offer nonstop service between Hong Kong and Kazakhstan when it launches flights to Almaty in the first quarter of 2027, marking the carrier’s entry into Central Asia.
