May 18 2020  |  Industry News

Data shows slow but steady recovery in China

By Hibah Noor

With domestic travel numbers inching up after lockdown ended in China’s COVID-19 hot spots, the question was, would this continue — especially after the holiday season.

Air travel recovers

The latest passenger numbers announce a resounding yes. There is overwhelming evidence that the domestic recovery is slowly but steadily improving. While in February, domestic air travel was down 85%, by May 10th that had risen to -54%, dropping very slightly to -55% on May 11th and 12th.

This is an improvement even since early May, when China’s air travel figures were still at -68% to -62%.

The total of over 800,000 PAX on May 10th was the highest one-day figure since late January.

Hotel occupancy

Hotel occupancy rates show important regional differences, but both Hainan and Sanya are getting close this year to the levels they experienced last year. Not surprisingly, areas that rely more on international travelers show a much lower occupancy rate.

Haikou Airport domestic traffic

This airport, which is the entry point for tourists visiting Hainan Island, shows numbers in line with the country’s domestic air traffic overall, with May’s available figures down 55% over 2019. That being said, there is a clear upward trajectory, and the first week of May showed passenger numbers over 200,000 for the first time since the crisis began.

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