China's domestic flight activity recovered to pre-Covid-19 levels during August, although international flights stayed weak, according to figures from domestic flight data provider Variflight.
There was an average of nearly 12,000 domestic flights a day in August, 95pc of year-earlier levels. Flight numbers were up by 13pc from July.
Flight activity at 34 major airports in China recovered to over 80pc of levels in August 2019. Flight numbers at several airports — Chongqing, Shanghai, Sanya in Hainan province, Ningbo and Wenzhou in Zhejiang and Nanchang in Jiangxi province — even increased compared to a year earlier. But international flight numbers were just 10pc of levels seen in August 2019.
A rise in flight activity since March-April has helped boost China's jet fuel demand. Apparent demand for jet-kerosine surged to 698,000 b/d in May from a historical low of 177,000 b/d in April.
The growth continued in July to 826,000 b/d, up by 14pc from June and 8.7pc higher than July 2019 in what was the first year-on-year increase this year. But the strength in apparent demand was partly a result of a slump in China's jet fuel exports to the lowest level since at least November 2011. China exported 320,000t (81,300 b/d) of jet fuel in July, 59.8pc less than in June and 77.1pc down on July 2019.
