Hangzhou International Airport in Xiaoshan district. [Photo provided by Hangzhou International Airport]

Civil airports in East China's Zhejiang province have handled over 80 million passengers this year, as announced by the Zhejiang Provincial Airport Group on Dec 9.

From January to November, the passenger throughput across the province reached 78.09 million, ranking fifth nationwide. The annual total is expected to exceed 84 million, with Hangzhou International Airport alone handling an estimated 48 million passengers.

Hangzhou International Airport maintains stable international routes, including 17 weekly flights to Singapore, 35 to South Korea, and 36 to Thailand. European routes to Lisbon, Rome, Madrid, and Moscow offer 11 weekly flights, and new routes to Egypt, Australia, and New Zealand have been added, totaling nine weekly flights.

Ningbo Lishe International Airport operates two weekly flights to Budapest, while Wenzhou Longwan International Airport offers eight weekly flights to Milan, Rome, and Madrid.

Thanks to favorable policies such as China's new visa exemptions, the international travel market is booming. Hangzhou International Airport's passenger traffic reached 4.07 million from January to November, an 84.3 percent increase from last year. The airport now connects to 36 destinations across 21 countries on four continents.

Zhejiang Provincial Airport Group anticipates significant growth by 2027, with new airports in Jiaxing and Lishui becoming operational. By then, the province's airports will handle over 100 million passengers and 1.5 million metric tons of cargo annually.