Tonnes of medical supplies are to be loaded onto a China Southern Airlines flight for New York at an airport in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, on April 24, 2020. (Provided to Xinhua)

Chinese domestic flights in June recovered to 75 percent of the level of the same period last year, an industry report released by VariFlight said on Monday, indicating improving fortunes for the aviation industry in China.

The report said flights from the Chinese mainland and overseas have plummeted by more than 70 percent since late January, but domestic flights were back to about 75 percent of the normal level in June. 

However, international flights are still weak, and the number of international flights from the mainland in the second quarter was less than 10 percent of the same period last year, the report said. 

In addition, in June, the maximum volume of average landing and takeoff at domestic airports recovered to near 2016 levels.  

The figures came just after the civil aviation regulator announced that the industry lost 34.25 billion yuan ($4.9 billion) in the second quarter, 3.85 billion yuan less than in the first quarter.

VariFlight data said that the load factor in the first half of this year was around 61.2 percent, compared with below 50 percent in February, adding that the number of flights operated by China Express in June achieved positive growth of 1.59 percent year-on-year, and Spring Airlines has basically recovered to the level of the same period last year.

Global travel and data analytics firm Cirium said late in June that signs of an aviation recovery are emerging, especially in the Chinese mainland and the Asia-Pacific region, and it predicted that the Chinese aviation industry could see positive growth compared to last year by the end of July.