At the annual National Civil Aviation Work Conference held in Beijing on 9 January 2026, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) reviewed 2025 results and unveiled bold growth targets for 2026. CAAC Director Song Zhiyong confirmed that the industry returned to profit in 2025, posting RMB 6.5 billion in aggregate earnings on the back of robust demand and a near-complete recovery of international routes.
For 2026 the regulator is aiming for 1 750 billion tonne-kilometres of total transportation turnover (a 17-percent jump), 8.1 billion passenger trips (up 11 percent), and 10.7 million tonnes of cargo and mail (up 9 percent). Key policy priorities include curbing “involution” price wars on popular domestic routes, accelerating certification of China’s home-grown C919 and upcoming C909 aircraft, and deepening low-altitude economy pilots for drones and eVTOL air taxis.
![China’s Civil Aviation Regulator Sets Ambitious 2026 Mobility Targets]()
The CAAC said it will press airlines to optimise schedules, raise on-time performance above 85 percent, and expand intermodal ticketing so that passengers can freely transfer between carriers on the same day—an important convenience for business travellers. Internationally, the regulator wants weekly passenger flights to exceed 7 500 by year-end (about 95 percent of pre-pandemic levels) and will prioritise capacity increases to financial centres such as Singapore, London and New York as well as emerging markets in the Middle East and South America.
Business travellers navigating this uptick in air capacity can simplify entry formalities by using VisaHQ’s digital visa-processing platform, which provides real-time guidance on Chinese requirements, document checklists, and secure courier services for passports—cutting down administrative time for both individual flyers and corporate mobility teams. Details are available at https://www.visahq.com/china/.
For mobility managers the message is clear: China’s skies are getting busier again, but regulators will push for more disciplined competition and higher service standards. Corporations with large China travel programmes should expect moderate fare increases on trunk routes, more options on secondary city pairs, and faster certification of indigenous jets that could lower long-haul operating costs in the next three to five years.
For 2026 the regulator is aiming for 1 750 billion tonne-kilometres of total transportation turnover (a 17-percent jump), 8.1 billion passenger trips (up 11 percent), and 10.7 million tonnes of cargo and mail (up 9 percent). Key policy priorities include curbing “involution” price wars on popular domestic routes, accelerating certification of China’s home-grown C919 and upcoming C909 aircraft, and deepening low-altitude economy pilots for drones and eVTOL air taxis.
The CAAC said it will press airlines to optimise schedules, raise on-time performance above 85 percent, and expand intermodal ticketing so that passengers can freely transfer between carriers on the same day—an important convenience for business travellers. Internationally, the regulator wants weekly passenger flights to exceed 7 500 by year-end (about 95 percent of pre-pandemic levels) and will prioritise capacity increases to financial centres such as Singapore, London and New York as well as emerging markets in the Middle East and South America.
Business travellers navigating this uptick in air capacity can simplify entry formalities by using VisaHQ’s digital visa-processing platform, which provides real-time guidance on Chinese requirements, document checklists, and secure courier services for passports—cutting down administrative time for both individual flyers and corporate mobility teams. Details are available at https://www.visahq.com/china/.
For mobility managers the message is clear: China’s skies are getting busier again, but regulators will push for more disciplined competition and higher service standards. Corporations with large China travel programmes should expect moderate fare increases on trunk routes, more options on secondary city pairs, and faster certification of indigenous jets that could lower long-haul operating costs in the next three to five years.
