Airline capacity within mainland China appears to be showing the first sign of recovery since the outbreak of the deadly coronavirus, according to the latest stats.
Analysis by OAG shows week-on-week capacity picked up by around 1.3 million seats – just over 25 per cent. This appears to be entirely driven by a recovery in the domestic market, with Air China alone adding around 306,000 seats and China Eastern around 200,000 week on week.
In total, 7,923 flights will be reintroduced this week, according to OAG.
This is a sign of hope when the capacity cuts are put into perspective, with OAG saying the cumulative loss of seats over the last six weeks coming close to the yearly capacity between the US and Western Europe.
However, international capacity continues to decline, though the downward trend is showing signs of slowing with only 25,000 fewer seats scheduled than the previous week. The largest week-on-week loss has been to Japan, with another 10,000 seats dropped this week.
This decline leaves China as the 28th largest international market, compared to its position as the third largest just six weeks ago.
OAG’s latest analysis of the market comes after IATA estimated the coronavirus crisis could cost the global airline industry around US$30 billion in 2020.