25 graphs show China’s deserted airports due to COVID-19 outbreak

China’s major airports after the COVID-19 outbreak have witnessed a steep fall. Airlines around the world are either cancelling or cutting flights to China in response to the accelerating spread of the virus, reports Tariq Hashmat. 

On December 31, 2019, China alerted the World Health Organisation (WHO) of unusual pneumonia in the city of Wuhan in Hubei province. A week later, the virus belonging to the coronavirus family was named 2019-nCOV. Less than two months later, it has been renamed COVID-19 and the world is on the brink of a pandemic, with over 95,000 identified cases and 3200 deaths.

In the midst of this chaos, air traffic at China’s busiest airports has plummeted by more than 80 percent since the beginning of the year. Data obtained from FlightRadar24, a Sweden-based global flight tracking service, shows the steep drop in the number of flight departures from 25 major Chinese airports as a consequence of coronavirus outbreak.

Wuhan, which has been under effective quarantine since January 23, has seen a drop in commercial flight departures to an absolute zero, with only aid and rescue flights operating to and from the city.

The rapid spread of the coronavirus is testing airlines and travel companies with a broad decline in travel demand that had been nearly unthinkable over the past decade. This drop-in air travel in China and the continuous spread of coronavirus is expected to have an impact on the global aviation market as well. In fact, it could cost airlines more than $29 billion in revenue, the International Air Transport Association warned last week.

Shares in China’s three biggest airlines—Air China, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines—have fallen by more than 20 percent since the first person died from the new strain.

The decline in Chinese air traffic began during the third week in January and accelerated in the fourth week. Declines have pared a bit in February, but this is likely due to an already dramatic reduction in operations. Traffic increased marginally on February 25 but flights out of Beijing Peking, Shanghai, and Guangzhou Baiyun, all saw further reductions. Until the recovery begins, China will see this level of service as the new status quo.

Into the tenth week of the outbreak, the spread of coronavirus has reached alarming rates. With increased cases of coronavirus being reported in countries near and far from China, including South Korea, Italy, and Iran, numerous flight routes across the world are being cut in a desperate attempt to contain the spread of the disease.

Italy has reported the highest number of deaths outside of mainland China, while Iran too has seen a sudden surge in cases and deaths. Air traffic has been hit in Italy, Iran, and several other Middle Eastern countries. Kuwait, Lebanon, Russia, and Oman are either scaling down or completely suspending flights to Iranian airports.

Bahrain has suspended flights to UAE, while Kuwait has suspended all its flights to Iraq. The human, social and economic impacts of this coronavirus outbreak can only be measured once the recovery starts. For now, all efforts are focused on containing and combating the outbreak.

Although India has curtailed its flight connectivity to countries like China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Italy, only a limited number of airports are screening the inbound flyers. Passengers coming in from Dubai and other transit hubs are still not screened.

As COVID-19 spreads, its effect on business and tourism is amplified. Already tourism into and out of mainland China has plunged. Some 400,000 Chinese tourists are forecast to cancel trips to Japan by the end of March.

Beijing Capital International Airport, the second busiest airport in the world, has witnessed a massive drop of over 85 percent in total flight departures. The story is not different at Shanghai’s Pudong International Airport which has seen a steep fall in departures by over 82 percent. Among the suspended flights is Air India’s Mumbai – Delhi – Shanghai service.

At Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport, another major India’s airline, IndiGo Airlines has suspended its Kolkata – Guangzhou service since February 6.

Likewise, Scandinavian Airlines SAS and Singapore Airlines too have suspended flights.

Health Analytics Asia analysed data from 25 busiest airports in China. The data shows how hard China’s air traffic is hit by coronavirus as travel bans and fear and panic are taking their toll.

Given China’s place in global supply chain, it is increasingly clear that the virus could cost the world’s economy dearly.

Wuhan Tianhe International Airport – WUH

Wuhan has been under effective quarantine since January 23, 2020. The Wuhan Tianhe International Airport (WUH) has seen a drop in commercial flight departures to an absolute zero, with only aid and rescue flights operating to and from the city. Flight operations are expected to remain this way until recovery begins.

Beijing Capital International Airport – PEK

The busiest airport in Asia, and the second busiest airport in the world, Beijijng Capital International Airport has seen a drop of over 85 per cent in total flight departures. Major carriers like Air Canada, and Qantas have extended their suspension of operations to the capital city, while a number of other carriers have reduced their capacity on this route.

Shanghai Pudong International Airport – PVG

The busiest international hub of China, the Pudong International Airport has seen a fall in departures by over 82 percent. Among the suspended flights is Air India’s Mumbai – Delhi – Shanghai service. Iberia, Air New Zealand and Air Canada, among others, have extended the suspension of their flights to Shanghai.

Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport – CAN

India’s largest carrier, IndiGo Airlines has suspended its Kolkata – Guangzhou service since February 6. Likewise, Scandinavian Airlines SAS and Singapore Airlines too have suspended flights. Starting February 25, China Southern Airlines has resumed its Guangzhou – Nairobi.

Chengdu Shiangliu International Airport – CTU

A hub for 8  Chinese carriers, the Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport has seen its fair share of fall in air traffic. The 64 percent drop in departures includes IndiGo’s service from Delhi. On February 28, Air China has resumed its Chengdu – Frankfurt service after a 21-day suspension.

Shenzen Bao’an International Airport – SZX

One of the three largest airport hubs serving the Pearl River Delta, the Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport has witnessed a drop in departures by over 75 percent. In addition to the most domestic flights affected, international flights such as Singapore Airlines’ SilkAir have suspended operations too.

Kunming Changsui International Airport – KMG

China’s gateway to Southeast and South Asia, the Kunming Changshui International Airport has seen a drop in departures by nearly 78 percent. China Eastern Airlines suspended its flights between Kolkata and Kunming from February 10 to February 29.

Xi’an Xianyang International Airport – XIY

Departures from northwestern China’s largest airport dropped by more than 84 percent, with merely 83 flights taking off on February 25. While most of the suspensions include domestic flights, international carriers such as Korean Air and Turkish Airlines have suspended operations too.

Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport – SHA

Flight departures at Shanghai’s second airport have seen a dip of nearly 76 percent. Most of the cancelations currently logged on FlightRadar24 constitute select domestic flights of China Eastern,  China Southern, Spring Airlines and several others.

Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport – CKG

SilkAir and Air Asia X have suspended flights to Chongqing from Singapore and Kuala Lumpur respectively. Other operations that constitute the almost 71 percent fall are domestic carriers like China Southern, Chongqing Airlines,, among others.

Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport – HGH

Home to Chinese tech giant Alibaba, Hangzhou’s lockdown has brought down commercial flight departures from its international airport by over 72 percent. Foreign airlines with suspended operations include Qatar Airways, EgyptAir and KLM.

Nanjing Lokou International Airport – NKG

Finnair, Lufthansa, and Scoot have stopped flying out of Nanjing, as part of their blanket suspension of operations across mainland China. This, in addition to domestic suspensions and cancellations, has reduced departures by 81.5 percent.

Zhengzhou Xinzheng International Airport – CGO

While most of the suspensions and cancellations at Zhengzhou Xinzheng are of local/domestic flights, Scoot, Garuda and Cathay Dragon have halted their services from Singapore, Denpasar and Hong Kong, respectively.

Xiamen Gaoqi International Airport – XMN

The international operators who have suspended flights to Xiamen Gaoqi include All Nippon Airways, KLM, Cebu Pacific, and Cathay Dragon.

Changsha Huanghua International Airport – CSX

Among the international operators with flights suspended out of Changsha Huanghua is Scoot’s service to Singapore, Air Asia X to Kuala Lumpur, Lion Air to Denpasar and  Thai Smile to Bangkok.

Apart from domestic flights, select international flights of China Southern, China Eastern and Hainan Airlines are also suspended

Qingdao Liuting International Airport – TAO

Domestic suspensions and cancellations at Qingdao Liuting include Air China, China, Xiamen Air, China Eastern, among others. The 84 percent drop in traffic also includes international flights such as Beijing Capital Airlines’ service to London Heathrow.

Haikou Meilan International Airport – HAK

Flights from Haikou Meilan to Beijing, Xi’an, Hangzhou, among others,  operated by China Southern,  Capital Airlines, Hainan Airlines stay cancelled or suspended. International flights such as Scoot’s service to Singapore and Hainan Airlines’ service to Melbourne remain suspended too.

Tianjin Binhai International Airport – TSN

A major proportion of the nearly 89 percent fall in departures from Tianjin Binhai consists of domestic flights by Air China, Fazhou Airlines and Okay Airways. Suspended international flights include the usual suspects such as Scoot’s Singapore service and Air Asia X’s flights to Kuala Lumpur.

Ürümqi Diwopu International Airport – URC

Notable International flights suspended out of  Ürümqi Diwopu include Air Arabia’s service from Sharjah and  Uzbekistan Airways’ service from Tashkent. This is in addition to suspensions by Chinese carriers such Air China and China Southern on select domestic and international operations.

Harbin Taiping International Airport – HRB

Harbin Taiping has seen a drop of 85 percent in flight operations over in 8 weeks. Russian carrier Aurora has suspended its services from Vladivostok and Khabarovsk. Selected domestic and international operations of Chinese carriers such as Air China, China Eastern and China Southern are also suspended.

Guiyang Longdongbao International Airport – KWE

Italian leisure carrier Neos has withdrawn its service to Guiyang Longdongbao from Milan Malpensa service. As is the case with all other airports, Chinese carriers like China Southern and China Express dominated the list of cancellations and suspensions.

Sanya Phoenix International Airport – SYX

Domestic operations have taken the biggest hit at Sanya Phoenix with China Southern, Capital Airlines and China West Air suspending or cancelling several of their routes. Foreign carriers such as Nordstar and Thai AirAsia have suspended operations as well.

Shenyang Taoxian International Airport – SHE

All Nippon Airways and Lufthansa have suspended their services from Tokyo Narita and Frankfurt, respectively. Additionally, cancellations and suspensions by local carriers such as Air China and Shandong Airlines sum to make for an 80 percent drop in operations and Shenyang Taoxian.

Dalian Zhoushuizi International Airport – DLC

A big portion of the drop in operations at Dalian Zhoushuizi consists of suspensions of select domestic flights by carriers such as China Southern, Shandong Airlines and Hainan Airlines. International routes, such as Ziamen Air’s service to Kuala Lumpur, are also suspended.

Jinan Yaoqiang International Airport – TNA

Apart from the numerous domestic operations suspended or cancelled out of Jinan Yqoqiang, international flights such as Scoot’s service from Singapore, Tibet Airlines’ service to Helsinki and Shandong Airlines service to Bangkok have been suspended too.