Mainland airports begin recovery
Mainland airports are seeing signs of recovery this month with a steady increase in aircraft movements and passenger traffic.
A spokeswoman for Shanghai Pudong International Airport said daily passenger traffic was 53,000 in the first week this month, compared with 70,000 before the Sars outbreak. There were 3,963 aircraft movements - about 75 per cent of the usual number.
'We have seen six weeks of recovery. Passenger numbers grow about 25 per cent every week,' the spokeswoman said. 'Airlines said the passenger load factor has been improving.'
Aircraft movements at Beijing Capital International Airport this month also bounced back to 90 per cent of the pre-Sars level. About 600 aircraft are landing or taking off at the airport everyday, compared with the previous average of of 670 per day.
A spokesperson for the airport said: 'We are under a process of rapid recovery. The figures in July are a lot better than June. Airlines are putting back more frequencies after seeing an improvement in passenger demand.'
Meanwhile, Hainan Meilan Airport said passenger traffic last month reached 130,000, an improvement of 83.1 per cent on May. But traffic was still 52.7 per cent down compared with the same month last year.
Aircraft movements at the airport in Haikou last month dropped 37.7 per cent year on year to 2,070. Cargo volume was down a comparative 28.5 per cent to 3,456.4 tonnes. 'July and August is the peak season. We expect the traffic to grow back to the pre-Sars level,' chief executive Wang Zhen said.
Hong Kong-based Dragonair will resume 80 per cent of its flights next month.
