China seeks more direct US flights, will aim to widen global use of C919

China's civil aviation industry aims to promote a significant increase in direct flights between China and the US, and promote the operation of the domestically manufactured C919 in more countries, as part of new moves to further lift air travel.

The remarks were made at the annual meeting of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) on Thursday, which summarized the industry's performance in 2023 and mapped out tasks for 2024.

Expanding overseas flights is among the CAAC's priorities. The CAAC forecast that China's international passenger traffic will continue to recover, and the number of flights is expected to reach 6,000 per week by year-end, recovering to 80 percent of pre-epidemic levels.

Further increasing direct flights between China and the US is at the top of the list.

International flights in 2023 recovered to more than 4,600 per week, compared with fewer than 500 per week at the beginning of last year.

Flights from China to Europe recovered to more than 60 percent of pre-pandemic levels. The number of regular direct flights between China and the US stands at 63 per week now.

Regarding Chinese-made aircraft, the CAAC said it will promote the approval review of the C919 aircraft for the European Aviation Safety Agency, which aims to allow the aircraft to operate in more countries.

In 2023, domestically built aircraft made a number of notable breakthroughs, such as the ARJ21 aircraft achieving large-scale operation and being exported to Indonesia. The model carried more than 10 million passengers in 2023.

On January 1, 2024, China Eastern Airlines welcomed its fourth C919 aircraft. The C919 completed its maiden commercial flight in May 2023. As of December 31, China Eastern Airlines' C919 fleet had operated 655 commercial flights, carrying a total of nearly 82,000 passengers.

The CAAC said that it will further improve tech innovation and prevent and resolve systemic risks that affect the long-term development of the industry.

The Chinese aviation industry is shrugging off the impact of the epidemic. CAAC data showed that domestic passenger traffic surpassed the pre-epidemic level of 2019 by 1.5 percent last year, the fastest recovery among all modes in China.

In 2024, China's domestic passenger transport will continue to grow steadily, and ridership on domestic routes is expected to reach 630 million people by year-end, exceeding 2019 by 7.7 percentage points, CAAC said.