In this Sept 25, 2019 file photo, a China Southern Airlines flight takes off at the Daxing International Airport in Beijing, China. (ZHANG CHENLIN / XINHUA)

BEIJING - China's civil aviation sector continued to recover in September, with airports seeing flights return to more than 90 percent of the volume registered in the same period last year, an industry report shows.

Chinese airports handled a total of 375,300 outbound flights last month, down 6.86 percent compared to the previous year, but up 1.6 percent month on month, according to a report released by VariFlight, a China-based civil aviation data service provider.

The report shows the number of domestic flights rose year on year in September, while the number of international flights increased slightly compared to August

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The report shows the number of domestic flights rose year on year in September, while the number of international flights increased slightly compared to August.

Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport in south China's Guangdong Province registered more outbound flights than any other Chinese airport last month, the report says.

Nine airports with an annual passenger throughput of more than 10 million people, including Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport and Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport, recorded year-on-year flight increases last month, according to the report.

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The flight volume in Sanya Phoenix International Airport grew by 19.52 percent year on year, registering the largest increase of all, says the report.

In September, airports around the world handled nearly 1.46 million outbound flights, down 52.88 percent, according to VariFlight.

With the country's travel demand rebounding following effective control of COVID-19, China reported a bigger flight volume last month than any other country, followed by the United States, Russia, Japan, and India, VariFlight said.

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