Chinese airlines deliver over 30m intl trips in 2014

A China Eastern Airlines passenger plane taxies on the tarmac at the Hong Kong Airport in this September 11, 2013 file photo. [Photo/Agencies]

BEIJING - Over 30 million international trips were delivered by Chinese airlines in 2014, up 18 percent year on year, a senior civil aviation official said Saturday.

Wang Zhiqing, deputy director of the Civil Aviation Administration of China, said double-digit growth rates were realized in the China-Europe, China-Australia and China-Republic of Korea trips last year.

Chinese took up over 55 percent of all the passengers on the flights between China and the United States after Chinese airlines started serving such routes with larger planes including Boeing 747-8, Boeing 777-300ER and Airbus A380, Wang added.

Forecast by International Air Transport Association, China's domestic passenger capacity will rise 10.8 percent in 2015, while the growth rates of China-US, China-Europe and China-Asia Pacific trips will be 10 percent, 9 percent and 4 percent at most, respectively.

Meanwhile, more Chinese airlines will launch international routes from smaller cities, and world low-cost airlines will join the Chinese civil aviation market.