CHINA'S air cargo volume increased to a new monthly record of 479,600 tonnes in March, with international air cargo volume of 166,600 tonnes, Logistics Week reported.

Passenger volume rose 20.3 per cent year on year to 21.7 million. Growth on international routes was 12.4 percentage points faster than on domestic routes.

Total turnover volume increased 34.4 per cent. Turnover volume grew 22 per cent on domestic lines and 64.4 per cent on international lines.

In the same month, China's civil aviation industry recorded a profit of CNY3.8 billion (US$556.5 million), surging 142 per cent. Domestic air carriers' total profit soared 112.7 per cent to CNY2.7 billion. Airports scored a profit of CNY870 million, shooting 352.7 per cent up. Other companies in the industry achieved a profit of CNY240 million, up 117 per cent.

In the first quarter, the 166 airports in China recorded a total cargo volume of 2.5 million tonnes, up 33.2 per cent year on year. Passenger volume totalled to 128.3 million, up 16.1 per cent. Aircraft movements increased 13.7 per cent to 1.2 million flights.