China’s aviation industry has staged a strong recovery this year, according to statistics released by the country’s Civil Aviation Administration. The sector, including both airlines and airports, netted total profits of Rmb11.8bn in the first 11 months of 2009.

From January to November, airlines carried 210m passengers, an increase of 20 per cent year-on-year. Over the same period, nearly 4m tons of cargo and mail were handled, up 5.7 per cent. Total air traffic in the period reached 38.65bn ton-kilometres, up 11.4 per cent over the same period last year.

The domestic market has performed particularly strongly, although there are also tentative signs of an improvement in international business. Cargo and mail throughput on international routes was unchanged for the first 10 months of 2009 and increased by 0.2 per cent year-on-year in November.

Earlier this month, the Guangzhou-based China Southern Airlines started scheduled freighter services between Shanghai Pudong and Frankfurt airports. The service is currently operated with a Boeing 747-400F but will be replaced by a Boeing 777ER next year.