China’s international air passenger traffic reached only 12% of pre-COVID levels in the first three months of 2023, with 2.24 million passengers traveling overseas after the reopening of borders on 8 January, according to rating agency Fitch.
In its first quarterly airport traffic report, published Monday, Fitch said the slow recovery of international travel by Chinese was due to a confluence of factors including many overseas routes having not yet fully resumed, residual hesitation on travelling and certain COVID tests in place.
The agency did, however state that it expects pent-up demand for travel and the gradual opening up of the border to propel a more substantial recovery in the international passenger market in the medium term.
It also noted that there was no such lag in domestic travel, which has already returned to 80% of 2019 levels through March. Air passenger traffic almost tripled in 1Q23 when compared to 4Q22, including a 114% increase in domestic air travel in January versus December.
“We expect airport traffic in China will continue to show an uptick in growth through 2023 and move the industry closer to its normalized level,” Fitch’s report said.
“We expect a full-year recovery to 2019 levels by end-2024, based on current projections. The recovery pace will, however, hinge more on the traffic profile, along with individual factors of each airport.”
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