Civil aviation industry shares plans for winter and spring

China's civil aviation industry will start winter and spring season on Sunday, with nearly 200 airline companies offering more than 100,000 flights every week, the sector's regulator said on Friday.

According to the Civil Aviation Administration of China, the new season will last from Sunday to March 26. A total of 101,658 passenger and cargo flights will be operated each week.

During the new season, more cargo flights are arranged to fly both domestic and international routes, and more domestic passenger flights and fewer international passenger ones will be arranged.

A total of 93,017 flights will be operated in domestic routes every week, except for the ones traveling to and from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, a year-on-year increase of 7.2 percent. Passenger flights are the majority, taking up to 90,781 flights per week, while 2,236 cargo flights will be arranged.

More new domestic routes are planned. Some 704 flights operated by 22 airline companies will fly 51 new domestic routes per week, mainly between airports in cities such as Chengdu in Sichuan province and Changsha in Hunan province.

A total of 6,172 international flights, including cargo and passenger ones, are arranged each week, a year-on-year increase of 21.3 percent. Passenger flights are reduced by 21 percent compared with last year, operating 408 flights per week.

Affected by COVID-19, the number of international passenger flights has remained at about 2.2 percent the level of pre-pandemic days.

More international passenger flights have been changed and are also encouraged to carry cargo globally to maintain a steady international supply chain.