China’s aviation market reported a single digit growth in air traffic in 2008 for the first time in five years.

Passenger volume rose 3.3 per cent to 192m last year, down from 16 per cent in 2007; cargo volume increased by just 0.3 per cent to 4m tons compared with 13 per cent in 2007, the Civil Aviation Administration of China said. In December, domestic airlines carried 15.67m passengers, a rise of 8.2 per cent from a year earlier, and delivered 307,853 tons of cargo, a drop of 15.2 per cent.

Passenger numbers are expected to increase by 11 per cent in 2009, with cargo growth predicted at 8 per cent. CAAC said the upturn would come about as a result of stimulus plans to boost demand.

These included waiving several fees and taxes that airlines have to pay, and urging carriers to cancel or postpone plane deliveries due this year and parking unnecessary planes.