The General Administration of Civil Aviation of China has lowered its official air traffic forecast for 2011 as the global economic slowdown impacts its passenger and cargo volumes.
China’s passenger growth predictions have been slashed from 13 percent to 8 percent this year to 288 million passengers, or about 13.4 million fewer passengers than expected but up from 267 million passengers last year.
Air cargo growth forecast has been revised downward from 11.5 percent to zero in 2011. China’s airlines are now seen to handle 5.6 million tonnes of air freight, down from the 6.4 million tonnes forecast previously.
State-run China Eastern Airlines, China’s second largest carrier by passenger numbers and the world’s third biggest by market value, has become the first Chinese airline to cancel B787 orders for A330s and smaller B737s.
Luo Zhuping, China Eastern Airlines executive director, said the carrier was not optimistic about the international market in the next two years because of the global economic situation.
China’s long-term forecast remain steady, however, predicting an increase to 450 million passengers by 2015 despite the impact of high-speed rail.
Photo by Kentaro Iemoto@Tokyo
