China's National Day holiday, also known as 'the Golden Week', overlaps with the Mid-Autumn Festival, falling on October 1st -8th, is expected to see an increasing number of people travelling, both domestically and overseas. According to Air Travel Report during the National Day Holiday (hereinafter, the Report) published by VariFlight, the leading aviation service provider in China, the number of actual operated flights has increased remarkably as the two holidays overlap, while the on-time performance at each airport has fallen mildly compared to the same period of 2016.

According to the Report, during this eight-day-holiday, there are 90,158 domestic flights and 18,890 flights flying to international destinations operated, representing a robust 25.89% and 18.56% year-on-year growth respectively. The on-time departure rate of domestic flights and flights flying overseas is 77.77% and 71.53%, showing a slight drop of 5.96% and 0.76% against the same period in the previous year.

PEK-SHA becomes the most welcomed route

0700 hits the travel peak

The top five most popular airline routes are Beijing Capital (PEK)-Shanghai Hongqiao (SHA), Shanghai Hongqiao (SHA)-Beijing Capital(PEK), Shanghai Hongqiao (SHA)-Shenzhen Bao'an (SZX), Shenzhen Bao'an (SZX)-Shanghai Hongqiao (SHA) and Beijing Capital (PEK)-Chengdu Shuangliu (CTU) with PEK-SHA fixing the top spot for a second time. It's worth mentioning that Xishuangbanna Gasa (JHG)-Kunming Changshui (KMG) has been edged out from the list while Hong Kong remains the most welcomed outbound destination in terms of domestic-international routes, followed by Japan.

Flights taking off between 0600-0700 peak hours deliver the best on-time performance of all day. There are 6,698 flights taking off at 0700, reaching the highest number of all peak times.

Figure 1:Hourly On-time Performance of Flights in Peak Hours during 2017 National Day Holiday

URC delivers the best on-time performance

PVG posts the fastest growth rate in punctuality

According to the Report, Urumchi Diwopu International Airport tops the domestic market with an on-time departure rate of 93.81%. The average departure delay is about 10 minutes. Shanghai Pudong International Airport posts an on-time performance rate of 76.02%, registered 15.64% year-on-year growth, the highest among the three busiest airports in China (Beijing Capital, Guangzhou Baiyun, Shanghai Pudong). The average delay time has also shortened from 31 minutes to 25 minutes.

Figure 2:On-time Departure Rate of Airports with a capacity of over 10 million passengers during 2017 National Day Holiday

Tianjin Airlines acknowledges the best on-time performance

Three Chinese major airlines continue to lead in punctuality

During the Golden Week, all major Chinese airlines have witnessed a slight fall in on-time arrival rate, whereas Tianjin Airlines ranks the first. Besides, China Southern Airlines, China Eastern Airlines and Air China, ranking first, second, and third respectively in terms of actual arrival flights, have all achieved an on-time rate above 90 percent.

Figure 3: On-time Arrival Rate of Chinese Major Airlines during 2017 National Day Holiday

Notes for editors

Period:Oct. 1st- Oct.8th, 2017

Flights:Commercial air passenger flights only. Cargo aircrafts, corporate jets and general aviation are excluded.

Actual operated flights:Flights that have actual take-off time and actual departure time in VariFlight database. Canceled flights are excluded.

On-time departure flight:ATD-STD<30mins

On-time departure rate:On-time Departure Flights/Actual Departure Flights * 100%

Chinese Major Airlines:Chinese airlines with over 250 daily takeoffs and landings

Contributed by VariFlight