BEIJING — China's civil aviation industry continued to see a gradual recovery in August as key indicators reported visible improvements from a month ago, data from the country's aviation regulator showed on Sept 15.

Airlines flew a total of 45.5 million passengers last month, down 25.6 percent year-on-year. The decline narrowed 8.5 percentage points from July, according to information released at a press briefing by the Civil Aviation Administration of China.

The domestic market saw an accelerated recovery, reporting 45.35 million passenger trips, the highest monthly volume this year. Due to the continued spread of COVID-19 overseas, international air passenger flows remained at a low level, with 189,000 trips last month.

In August, China's air cargo volume fell 13.3 percent year-on-year to 546,000 metric tons and the punctuality rate of Chinese airlines reached 78.1 percent.