The number of seats being offered by airline carriers in China dropped the most since early in the COVID-19 pandemic, as rising cases of the delta variant spurred fresh restrictions on movement.
Seat capacity plunged 32% in one week, hastening a decline in the country that began at the end of July, based on data from aviation specialist OAG. China¡¯s stumble sent global capacity on a weekly 6.5% slide, as travel comebacks also stagnated in Europe and North America.
The surge in Chinese cases has dealt a fresh blow to tourism on the mainland during the peak summer holiday. China, which at one point during the pandemic overtook the U.S. as the world¡¯s largest aviation market, is battling its broadest outbreak since the virus first emerged in the city of Wuhan in late 2019.
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