The latest developments in China give hope for a more rapid recovery in air traffic: Within China, business is recovering much faster than expected. The number of flights within the country last month was even higher than in the same month last year, the number of passengers almost reached the level of the previous year. 

The Chinese "Big Three" are also noticing this: Air China, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines are taking advantage of this positive trend and are generously expanding their flight program. In November alone, the carriers each launched more than 10 new domestic routes. China Southern reportedly counted 11,8 million domestic passengers in October, an increase of 6 percent compared to the previous month, which was also 3,3 percent higher than the same month last year. The other two airlines are on a similar level. The Golden Week holidays in particular contributed significantly to the increase in the numbers, according to the news paper Flightglobal reported. 

In contrast, things are still looking gloomy internationally. Because global travel restrictions are placing barriers to recovery, China Southern only carried 76.000 passengers abroad in October. This would correspond to a decrease of 95 percent compared to the previous year. Air China counted even fewer passengers: only 42.900 people used the airline's services for international travel, which is a drop of 97 percent.