Abstract
COVID-19 is an unprecedented situation and its impacts are expected to be significant, especially for the travel and tourism industry. This study contains a comprehensive and in-depth analysis of air transport capacity, traffic and revenue changes in domestic and international markets involving China with a focus on airlines, route networks and airports during the Covid-19 pandemic covering the period through to April 2020. Data from OAG and MIDT were used to analyse the Chinese domestic market, the traffic China to Europe and China to the rest of Asia. The analysis found that domestic markets, those served by well financed/funded air carriers, those less exposed to the highest rates of Covid-19 infection and those that are seeing the least restrictive lockdown and travel measures have been least impacted by the pandemic and are those that are most likely to rebound first. Less well financed/funded carriers whose networks are focussed on international markets, premium traffic and discretionary leisure travel have been found to be impacted most by the pandemic and are those that are likely to take the longest to recover. In terms of Chinese airports, performance has varied according to airlines served, characteristic of the airport/city, and the severity of the outbreak.