Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou top Chinese cities in 10mln passenger throughout

BEIJING - Competitiveness of airports in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou topped all 37 Chinese airports with an annual passenger throughput of more than 10 million, said the latest report released in Beijing.

Beijing Capital International Airport, Shanghai Pudong International Airport and Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport had the highest domestic connectivity in all these mega-airports in 2018, said the Report of Chinese Airport Competitiveness Index.

The report was released by VariFlight, China's leading global flight data services company.

The airport competitiveness takes multidimensional factors into consideration, including the passenger capacity, route network, profitability and operational efficiency.

In 2018, Beijing Capital International Airport had the highest domestic-global connectivity and highest capacity in transporting domestic air passengers, said the report.

Shanghai Pudong International Airport topped the lists of both global-global and comprehensive connectivity.

In the passenger traffic segment, the top 10 airports are respectively in the cities of Beijing, Shanghai (Pudong), Guangzhou, Chengdu, Shenzhen, Kunming, Xi'an, Shanghai (Hongqiao), Chongqing and Hangzhou.

"To meet growing travel demands and market expansion, Chinese airports are in need of establishing more dimensional competitiveness to enhance their presence domestically and globally," said Zheng Hongfeng, CEO of VariFlight.

"Beyond capacity in the passenger throughput dimension, Chinese airports should precisely position themselves in the fast evolving civil aviation market of the country," Zheng said.

By the end of 2018, China had a total of 235 certified civil transport airports, among which 37 airports reached the 10 million annual passenger throughput, statistics from the Civil Aviation Administration of China showed.