Whitepaper: China to the World – a look at the international markets driving growth

With trade being a high priority for discussions on President Xi’s trips, it’s timely to look at the growth of international air travel to and from China…

A look at the international markets driving growth in China

Chinese President Xi Jinping has been busy travelling the world this year, making numerous official visits overseas and attending summits and meetings. This reflects China’s status as the world’s largest trading nation and the outward looking nature of the current Chinese leadership. We know trade discussions often include commitments to increase air services on a bilateral basis; in September the visit of India’s Prime Minister Modi to California was swiftly followed by the announcement of a new Air India service between New Delhi and San Francisco. In October the Chinese State visit to the UK included the announcement of a new service operated by Hainan Airlines between Manchester and Beijing.

With trade being a high priority for discussions on President Xi’s trips, it’s timely to look at the growth of international air travel to and from China.

From strength to strength

In contrast to news reports of weakness in the Chinese economy, there is no sign of weakness in the Chinese aviation market. In the month of November 2015 there are 298,353 scheduled flights leaving Chinese airports for destinations in China or internationally, according to OAG Schedules Analyser. That equates to 47.6m airline seats a month and 9,945 aircraft movements every day. The average aircraft size is 159 seats. Eighty nine percent of capacity is provided on routes within China, including Hong Kong and Macau, while the remaining eleven percent is on routes between China and elsewhere…