BEIJING, Feb. 29 -- China recorded more than 57.3 million air passenger trips in January, a surge of 44.1 percent year on year, data from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) showed Thursday.

The civil aviation sector's total transport turnover topped 11.6 billion tonne-kilometers last month, up 57.1 percent from a year earlier, Zhang Qing, a development planning official with the CAAC, told a press conference.

Some 753,000 tonnes of cargo and mail were transported by air in January, an increase of 53.9 percent year on year, Zhang said.

China's civil aviation sector is entering a phase of sustained, rapid and healthy development, with the gradual recovery of the vitality of market entities, and production and operation returning to normal, said Zhang.

This year, major performance indicators such as total transportation turnover and passenger traffic are expected to surpass their pre-pandemic levels, according to Zhang.