While China’s aviation industry was the first to suffer from the global health crisis a year ago, aggressive exclusions and travel restrictions have allowed airlines to resume travel and repair routes quickly. One of the country’s largest carriers, China Eastern Airlines, recently reached a major milestone, claiming that its grounded aircraft fleet in Shanghai is now at zero.
The use of aircraft is increasing
According to the Global Times, which received the news directly from China Eastern, the base fleet size at the airline’s Shanghai base has dropped to zero. Although the airline operates from the two main airports in Shanghai – Hongqiao (SHA) and Pudong (PVG) – it has not yet been specified which Shanghai base has grounded all its aircraft.
Through research based on data from the list of parked China Eastern planes by Planespotters.net, it appears that there are still a few jet planes ‘standing’ at both airports in Shanghai. Although the planes were now listed as parked, they had already flown in February.
Regardless of the specific airport, the news is a general indication that the country’s aviation market is still recovering.
The passenger flight is expected to increase
Global Times notes that China Eastern’s average daily flight volume for passengers has now recovered to around 2,400. However, a boom is expected in the coming weeks, with the Qingming Festival taking place the following month during the April and May holidays (Labor Day).
The carrier reports that it intends to add flights for this expected boom. The increased services will support travel between cities such as Beijing, Guangzhou and Chengdu.
China Eastern’s two Shanghai hubs
If we look at available flight data, it appears that China Eastern uses both Hongqiao and Pudong almost equally. With RadarBox.com’s “heat map” tool, we can see that Hongqiao posted 198 aircraft movements per day, with Pudong close to it with 181.4.
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Using FlightRadar24.com’s route tool, we can see how the airline uses the two airports in different ways. Shanghai Hongqiao is used exclusively for domestic services, while Pudong is used much more as a long-distance transcontinental operating base. It is from Shanghai Pudong that the airline offers flights to North America, Europe, Oceania and Southeast Asia.
According to COVID-19 data from Worldometers.com, it appears that China, at least in the past few weeks, has reduced its new daily count to less than 20 per day. Some days it was already five. Hopefully the rest of the world can follow suit, as vaccination programs are still being used.
What do you think of China’s recovery aviation market? How long will it take for other countries to see similar results? Let us know your thoughts by commenting.