China Civil Aviation up in first three quarters of 2007

The entire air transport production industry of China shows strong signs of development from January to September of this year, based on statistical data gathered by the Statistic Department of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC). According to CAAC statistics for the first three quarters of 2007, industry air transport production was up. Total traffic throughput reached 26.57 billion ton kilometers, and cargo and mail traffic reached 2.879 million tons, an increase of 18.3 percent and 13.9 percent on a year-on-year basis. The influx of passenger volume reached 138.612 million, higher by 16.2 percent compared to the same period last year. Accordingly, a total transport throughput of 19.54224 billion ton kilometers -- an 11.6 percent rise over last year -- was realized among the three large airline groups: China Southern, China Eastern and Air China. Among the newly established airlines, Spring Airlines, Lucky Air, East Star Airlines, China United Airlines, China Express Airlines, and Juneyao Airlines have all shown increases exceeding one-hundred percent of the total throughput on the first three quarter of this year compared to the same period last year. The statistical data also confirms that during the first three quarters of this year alone, the flight passengers’ load factor is at a considerably higher level with the entire civil aviation passenger load factor increasing about 76 percent, a two percent rise on a year–on-year basis, while the scheduled flights load factor grew 66.5, a 0.6 percent rise, indicating a strong growth trend for both domestic and international flights. From January to September of 2007, the entire air transport industry generated a profit of RMB 13.72 billion with the profit level of airlines, airports and service enterprises increasing on a year-to-year basis, adding to China’s continued economic prosperity.