BEIJING — China's civil aviation industry gradually recovered from the impact of COVID-19 in the first half of this year, data from the country's aviation regulator showed on July 9.

The industry reported 245 million passenger trips in the January-June period, up 66.4 percent year-on-year, equivalent to 76.2 percent of the volume during the same period of 2019, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China.

The transportation volume recovered quarter by quarter, and in the second quarter, passenger trips on domestic flights returned to the pre-epidemic level.

The air cargo volume rose 24.6 percent year-on-year to 3.743 million metric tons during the period, up 6.4 percent compared with the same period of 2019.

The aviation sector's investment in fixed assets reached 43.5 billion yuan (about $6.72 billion) in the first half of the year, up 8.5 percent year-on-year, said the administration.