China Faces Surge in Air Travel Demand, Rushes to Recruit Pilots

Flight Operations Recover to 2019 Levels
Resumption of Training for Overseas Aviation School Trainees

Since the transition to the With-Corona system, demand for flights has surged, prompting Chinese airlines to start training pilots. The dispatch of trainees to overseas flight schools, which had been suspended due to COVID-19, has also resumed.

According to Bloomberg on the 17th (local time), Air China, a Chinese state-owned airline, requested last month to send about 100 commercial pilot trainees to a flight school in Australia. Air China had suspended the dispatch of trainees since early 2020, right after the spread of COVID-19.

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

Low-cost carrier Spring Airlines is also actively recruiting pilots to expand its business. Vice President Zhang Yuan stated that about 200 pilots will be hired annually, and some will need personnel qualified in Australia or the United States.

According to a recent forecast by aircraft manufacturer Boeing, the global demand for new pilots between last year and 2041 will reach 600,000, with Asia expected to be the largest demand market. By individual country, China leads with 126,000 pilots, followed by North America (128,000) and Europe (122,000), all showing high personnel demand.

China's aviation demand has already fully recovered to pre-COVID-19 levels. According to the Civil Aviation Administration of China, the number of air passengers last month was 50,275,000, an increase of 537.9% compared to the same period last year, reaching 94.6% of 2019 levels. Among these, domestic transportation volume was actually 3.4% higher than in 2019, the Civil Aviation Administration announced. The daily utilization rate of aircraft also increased by 6 hours compared to the previous year, reaching 8.2 hours.

Looking at airlines individually, Air China carried 10,517,000 passengers in April, with transportation volume surging more than 500% compared to the previous year. China Eastern Airlines transported 9,303,000 passengers, and China Southern Airlines 11,320,000, both increasing by over 900% and 300% respectively compared to the previous year. Spring Airlines also transported 1,940,000 passengers, showing growth exceeding 300%.

The number of international flights was 19,540, a 56.5% increase from the previous month, but only 31.3% of the 2019 level was recovered. More than half of the international routes were to Southeast Asia, with Thailand being the top destination at 1,862 flights.

Compared to passenger transport, air cargo remains sluggish. In April, the total cargo and mail transport volume in the industry was 545,000 tons, a 1.4% decrease from the previous month and only a 29.5% increase compared to the same period last year. The recovery rate compared to 2019 stands at about 90.6%.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.