China's civil aviation industry transported 17.082 million people during the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holiday this year, an average of 2.14 million people per day, an increase of 194.9 percent over the National Day holiday in 2022, showing civil aviation passenger volume steadily recovering.

There were 134,321 actual flights nationwide and 16,790 guaranteed flights per day, an increase of 109.46 percent over the National Day holiday in 2022, Economic Daily reported.

The passengers' landing in small airports increased significantly during the holiday this year, and the tourism market of small cities with a complete infrastructure was more popular during the holiday.

The recovery of the tourism market is one of the most important drives in boosting the recovery of civil aviation passenger volume, explained Zhan Fen, an associate research fellow from China Academy of Civil Aviation Science and Technology.

"Local cultural and tourism departments are promoting the integration of tourism with performing arts, sports and more, while also innovating tourism products. This has effectively stimulated traveling demands, and pushed forward the recovery of the civil aviation traveling market."

"There will be more middle-income people from small and medium-sized cities in the future, which are the main consumer groups of multi-frequency air travel, and they will further increase the frequency of air travel in some small airports." Zhan added.