A plane lands in an airport in Chengdu, Southwest China's Sichuan Province. Photo: VCG

China will see a growth of more than 100 percent of international flights as the new winter/spring season approaches, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said on Wednesday, as the country is taking measures to facilitate international travel for key personnel exchanges.

The inbound and outbound flights are likely to reach 420 for international travelers per week in the coming season, starting from October 30 to March 25 of 2023, a year-on-year increase of 105.9 percent year-over-year, Xu Qing, an official from the CAAC, said on Wednesday.

Cargo flights will see slight growth of 6.7 percent during the period, the CAAC predicted.

The new data came at the heels of China's top economic planner, the National Development and Reform Commission, along with five other government ministries, issued 15 measures to facilitate the implementation of foreign-invested projects in the country, with emphasis placed on the manufacturing sector. The measures include facilitating international travel for key personnel and allowing foreign companies to raise funds on China's stock markets.

The increase in international flights is also in line with Chinese airlines' schedule as they have been busy restarting their international services over recent days.

China Southern Airlines said on Monday that it will resume weekly international flights from Guangzhou bound for New York on December 1, the third one to North America, following the flights from Guangzhou to Los Angeles and Toronto.

China Southern said it had resumed 13 overseas routes as of October 20, including Wuhan to Istanbul, Shenzhen to Moscow, and Guangzhou to Dubai. 

China Eastern Airlines said that it would double its international flights from 54 to 108 per week from October 30. 

Hainan Airlines said it will fly 10 outbound flights to overseas cities, including flights from Beijing to Brussels, Moscow and Belgrade from October 30. 

Recently, a number of airlines have announced resumption and increase of international routes for the winter and spring seasons. The total amount would double the number of summer and fall period, with destinations in Asia, Europe and America, domestic online travel agency Qunar said in a statement sent to the Global Times on Tuesday.

With the orderly recovery of international passenger flights, the passenger traffic volume for international destinations rebounded significantly in the third quarter. 

The CAAC said on Wednesday that a total of 537,000 passengers were carried for the international routes in the third quarter, an increase of 73.3 percent over the second quarter, and an increase of 36.3 percent over the same period last year.

In this new season, a total of 127 domestic and foreign airlines plan to arrange 104,573 passenger and cargo flights per week, the CAAC said.

As for domestic flights within China, a total of 54 domestic airlines are to fly 95,173 passenger and cargo flights per week, an increase of 2.31 percent over the winter and spring season. In total, 92,970 passenger flights per week represent a year-on-year increase of 2.41 percent. And, 2,203 cargo flights per week records a year-on-year decrease of 1.48 percent.