China provides three big airlines with USD 1.64b in covid combo

Dhaka: The Chinese Government will provide CNY 11 billion (USD 1.64 billion) in grants to three big Chinese airlines and Beijing's Capital Airport in the aftermath of Covid-19 and prolonged lockdowns in China.

The largesse comes via the Civil Aviation Administration of China, which posted the news on July 13 on China's Ministry of Transport website.

Air China, China Eastern Airlines, and China Southern Airlines will each collect USD 450 million, while Beijing Capital Airport (PEK) will receive USD 300 million.

The grants come as the Civil Aviation Administration of China said the number of commercial passenger flights every day has remained above 10,000 since the start of July, and the overall recovery continues to improve.

The Chinese Government, via various proxies, has controlling interests in all three airlines.

“In the first half of the year, the civil aviation industry was repeatedly hit by the epidemic, and the Civil Aviation Administration coordinated relevant departments to issue relief policies to help enterprises. In terms of financial credit, the Civil Aviation Administration, on the basis of the CNY 65.6 billion (USD 9.76 billion) in emergency loans for airlines and airports, has also strived for an additional CNY 150 billion (USD 22.31 billion) in emergency loans for airlines," said a statement from China's Ministry of Transport.

The statement adds that in the second half of 2022, the Civil Aviation Administration will continue to assist the local aviation industry while actively expanding investment in civil aviation.

Earlier this year, with rolling lockdowns in some of China's biggest cities, the number of daily flights in China sometimes sunk below 3,000. Song Zhiyong, Head of the Civil Aviation Administration of China, admitted recently that Chinese carriers had accrued losses exceeding USD 44.5 billion since the pandemic's start.