The CCAA China Airport Development Index was officially released today. The index was jointly developed by the CCAA and the Center for Global Connectivity Research at Peking University and is released for the first time. The indicator system covers a total of 6 primary and 20 secondary indicators. It comprehensively assesses the development of China’s airports in six dimensions - safety, accessibility, convenience, service, greenness, and contribution. The CCAA China Airport Development Index 2024 was 106.65, a 6.65% increase from the 2019  period, indicating the overall situation of China’s airport development, which has surpassed the pre-epidemic level.

Of the six-dimension indicators, safety, accessibility, convenience, and greenness scores grew faster, service scores grew more modestly, and contribution scores declined slightly.

The safety score was 111.65, exceeding the pre-epidemic level. It means that airport safety has improved considerably. Both the number of unsafe incidents and the number of signs of incidents at transportation airports have declined, and aviation security has been guaranteed for 21 consecutive years with zero incident. The emergency management mechanism is being steadily promoted, with safety and security measures being in place.

The accessibility score was 111.20. Compared to the 2019  period, it shows that the airport’s accessibility continues to improve and plays a greater role in meeting passenger air transportation needs. This score is mainly due to the fact that China’s airports scored higher in 2023 in terms of airport density, takeoffs, and landings, as well as transit connections.

The convenience score was 117.93. Operational efficiency, travel convenience, and smart customs clearance have significantly improved and showed a steady increase, indicating that China’s smart airport construction is constantly improving.

The service score was 103.04. Passenger experience scores are close to  period levels; overall passenger satisfaction scores for all volume airports are in the excellent range; the passenger travel experience continues to improve; carrier evaluation scores are essentially unchanged from the  period; and overall complaint management scores are significantly higher than in 2019 for all volume airports.

The greenness score was 106.63. In 2023, China civil aviation’s fuel consumption (tonne-kilometer) was 14.3% lower than that of 2005, the  year of the industry’s energy-conservation and emission reduction target; and the airport average per-passenger energy consumption and per-passenger carbon dioxide emissions were 38.4% and 60.5% lower than the 2013-2015 averages, respectively, and the construction of green airports have achieved positive results.

The contribution score was 93.78, lower than the 2019  period level. It suggests that the extent of the airport’s contribution to integrated transportation has not yet fully recovered to pre-epidemic levels. In 2023, the throughput of China’s transportation airports was 1.26 billion passengers, up 142.2% from the previous year, having recovered to 93.2% of the 2019 level. Among them, the scale of passenger traffic on domestic routes has exceeded the pre-epidemic level, with a 1.5% increase over 2019, the fastest recovery among all types of transportation modes. By contrast, international flights only recovered to 34.0% of the 2019 level. With China’s implementation of unilateral visa-free access to relevant countries, enhancement of transportation and payment convenience for foreigners coming to China and other related policies introduced consecutively, the CCAA has further increased its efforts to consult with key countries. From January to August this year, the number of passengers transported on international routes has reached 84.7% of the same period of 2019, an increase of 175% over the same period of 2023, presenting a strong recovery trend.

(CHEN Qiao, CCTV journalist)

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