Chinese Airlines to Carry Two Thirds Fewer Domestic Passengers This Labor Day

What’s new: China’s domestic airlines will carry about a third as many passengers over the five-day Labor Day holiday as they did this time last year, despite government efforts to ratchet down some Covid-19 quarantine measures and return to normalcy.

Around 2.9 million people were expected to fly in China from May 1 to 5, down 66.8% year-on-year, aviation regulators said Thursday.

Yu Biao of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) told reporters the average passenger load factor was not expected to eclipse 70% during what has traditionally been a peak travel time.

Why you should care: Airline bookings are closely watched because, even though the epidemic that began in China is now well-controlled there, economic recovery efforts are ongoing. The Chinese economy shrank 6.8% year-on-year in the first quarter on official figures. 

Yu Biao of the CAAC said the number of people flying to popcities popular with tourists was particularly low, indicating travel for tourism purposes remains depressed.

Civil aviation industry researcher Luo Zhiyu told Caixin quarantine policies that limit visitors’ movement were a major factor.

Beijing relaxed some measures just ahead of the Labor Day holiday, exempting those who arrive from other low-risk cities from two weeks’ mandatory self-quarantine, spurring an immediate surge in bookings for flights to and from the capital.

Quick Takes are condensed versions of China-related stories for fast news you can use. To read the full Caixin article in Chinese, click here.

Related: Cooped-Up Beijing Residents Rush to Get Out of Town

Contact reporter Isabelle Li (liyi@caixin.com) and editor Flynn Murphy (flynnmurphy@caixin.com)