New measures aim to bail out airlines hit hard by outbreak

China's civil aviation authority rolled out a series of measures to bail out airlines hit hard by the novel coronavirus outbreak and restore much-needed connectivity with the rest of the world.

According to a notice issued by the Civil Aviation Administration of China on Monday, the country will reduce its airport and air control fees by 10 percent for domestic and overseas airlines, as well as those from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan.

The CAAC will also postpone the upcoming summer season flight plan and suspend the evaluation of airlines' on-time performance for the time being, it said, adding that it's also working to streamline flight approval procedures and shorten the time for resuming international routes.

Further, the CAAC will give monetary benefits to airlines that have carried out major transportation missions coordinated by the State Council's joint prevention and control mechanism, it added.

The move to tide the airlines through this difficult time came after China, the world's second largest aviation market, saw temporary flight bans to and from some countries and a decrease in international flights due to the epidemic, as well as a shrinking domestic air market.

Data from aviation statistics provider VariFlight showed that around 10,000 flights were canceled on average daily in February, or around two-thirds of the flights scheduled every day, which has placed huge financial pressure on airlines and airports.

A one-way plane ticket from Shanghai to Chongqing, a three-hour journey covering over 1,400 kilometers, now costs 50 yuan ($7.20) on China Southern Airlines as Chinese carriers have been slashing prices in a bid to boost weak flight demand amid the epidemic.

Last week, the CAAC unveiled a series of financial measures to help the aviation industry navigate the impact of the coronavirus outbreak, including offering direct subsidies to Chinese and foreign airlines to resume international flight services that had been suspended due to the new virus.

In an effort to boost infrastructure investment in the sector, civil aviation authorities have also injected efforts to push forward the resumption of major infrastructure projects to realize an annual fixed asset investment of 100 billion yuan in 2020.

As of March 3, construction of 48 of the country's 81 airport projects had resumed, according to the CAAC.

The administration will also increase investment in the new technology applications of airlines in terms of plane security, flight quality monitoring and satellite navigation, and ramp up support for the upgrade and modification of airborne safety equipment.

China's civil airport industry grew steadily in 2019, reporting rises in passenger and cargo throughput and numbers of airports and flights, according to the CAAC.

There were 237 regular service airports on the Chinese mainland in 2019, with four newly opened, including Beijing Daxing International Airport. The number of cities with regular flight service reached 234, the CAAC said.

Annual passenger throughput stood at 1.35 billion trips, up 6.9 percent from 2018.

In total, 1.21 billion trips were made on domestic routes (including routes to Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan), up 6.5 percent year-on-year. In comparison, the passenger capacity of international flights surged 10.4 percent to 139 million trips.

Cargo and mail throughput increased 2.1 percent to 17.1 million metric tons last year, with those via domestic and international services rising 3.3 percent and 0.4 percent, respectively, CAAC data showed.

Xinhua contributed to this story.