Air China (the Group) reported solid traffic growth in April 2026, led by continued recovery on international routes and disciplined capacity management.
Passenger Operations • Available seat kilometres (ASK) edged up 0.5% YoY to 29.37 billion. • Revenue passenger kilometres (RPK) rose 5.8% YoY to 25.12 billion, lifting the passenger load factor 4.3 ppts to 85.5%. • Domestic ASK was broadly flat, while RPK gained 2.7%, pushing the domestic load factor up 2.3 ppts to 86.0%. • International ASK expanded 2.4% and RPK surged 13.8%, raising the international load factor 8.5 ppts to 84.8%. • Regional (Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan) capacity fell 6.1%, but traffic still advanced 3.1%, lifting the load factor 7.4 ppts to 81.9%. • The carrier transported 13.15 million passengers during the month, a 2.6% increase YoY.
Cargo Operations • Available freight tonne kilometres (AFTK) declined 3.6% YoY to 1.02 billion, yet revenue freight tonne kilometres (RFTK) improved 4.2% to 424.90 million. • The cargo load factor climbed 3.1 ppts to 41.8%, supported by a 6.7% increase in international freight traffic. • Total cargo and mail volume reached 123,083 tonnes, up 1.6% YoY.
Fleet & Network Updates • One C919, four A320-series and one B737-series aircraft were added; one A320-series aircraft was retired, taking the fleet to 965 aircraft at April-end. • New or resumed routes included Beijing Capital–Hanzhong (daily), Beijing Capital–Delhi (three per week) and Beijing Daxing–Frankfurt (daily).
Year-to-Date Snapshot (Jan–Apr 2026) • Cumulative RPK grew 11.7% YoY to 105.84 billion on a 5.8% increase in ASK. • Passenger load factor averaged 85.0%, up 4.5 ppts. • Cumulative RFTK rose 5.9% to 1.62 billion on a 1.9% increase in AFTK, lifting the cargo load factor 1.4 ppts to 36.1%.
The April figures underline Air China’s ongoing recovery momentum, particularly on international routes, while cargo efficiency improved despite lower capacity.
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