Passengers line up orderly at check-in counters at Nanjing Lukou International Airport in Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu Province on October 1, 2025. Photo: VCG

Starting January 12, Hainan Airlines will add daily flights from Chongqing Municipality in Southwest China to Bangkok, marking the latest expansion of international routes from regional Chinese cities. 

Additionally, beginning February 1, Chongqing Airlines will launch a new Chongqing-Bangkok service, operating four weekly flights initially before increasing to daily from March onward. Once fully implemented, the Chongqing-Bangkok route will reach a total of 42 weekly flights via Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport, as reported by local media on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, this month will also see Chengdu, Southwest China's Sichuan Province, increase flight frequency to Kuala Lumpur and launch a new direct route to Sihanoukville, Cambodia. In March, Chengdu is set to inaugurate a new nonstop service to Brussels, further strengthening its international air connectivity.

This expansion aligns with China's ongoing efforts to restore and expand its global aviation network.

According to the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) on Tuesday, international flights in 2025 rebounded to over 90 percent of the pre-pandemic 2019 level, with international passenger traffic increasing by 21.6 percent year-on-year.

Key milestones included the resumption of regular passenger flights between China and India, the establishment of new routes to Latin America, and the successful inaugural seventh freedom traffic right, a milestone for the free trade port of South China's Hainan Province.

In 2025, passenger traffic to Central Asia, West Asia, Africa, and Latin America grew significantly by 59.3 percent, 33.4 percent, 39.0 percent, and 108.6 percent, respectively, according to CAAC.

Data from information provider VariFlight showed on Wednesday that in December, there were approximately 58,000 international passenger flights, recovering to 84.4 percent of the same period in 2019. In terms of outbound destinations, Southeast Asia and East Asia accounted for 73.0 percent of the total international outbound flights.

On Tuesday, Cathay kicked off its "80 Years Together" anniversary celebrations. Cathay Group Chief Executive Officer Ronald Lam said that the group has launched 20 destinations in 2025 and they will continue to increase the frequency of existing destinations. 

Cathay Group's network currently spans over 100 global destinations. This includes 24 destinations connecting Hong Kong with the Chinese mainland, as well as numerous services linking the city to the rest of the world.

Lam announced that the group will launch direct flights between Hong Kong and Seattle, US in March. He also stated that additional new destinations will be revealed in due course.

In a related celebration, the group on Tuesday unveiled a special livery on one of its long-haul Airbus A350 aircraft. Featuring the airline's iconic "lettuce leaf sandwich" design alongside an 80th-anniversary mark, the scheme pays homage to Cathay's classic green-and-white striped paint.

Global Times