(Yicai Global) March 12 -- The novel coronavirus Covid-19 cost China's civil aviation industry CNY24.6 billion (USD3.5 billion) in February, the industry's largest ever loss.

Major airlines lost about CNY21 billion in February, the Civil Aviation Administration's spokesman Xiong Jie said at a press briefing today. Passenger traffic slumped 84.5 percent annually to just 8.34 million, while the amount of cargo and mail transported dropped 21 percent to 297,000 tons.

The traffic numbers have been slowly rebounding as the rate of new cases in China slows, and domestic flight volume rose 16 percent on the week to about 40 percent of normal levels last week, according to official data. Shenzhen, Chengdu and Chongqing were operating at about 60 percent.

China is optimizing management of international flights and categorizing them based on their risk level, Xiong said, adding that there are strict rules in place to prevent patients from overseas bringing the virus back into the country.

Passengers on low-risk flights must undergo a temperature check and wear disposable medical masks, while the planes must have an emergency isolation zone on board, he added. On flights deemed a medium risk, passengers will also need to undergo mid-trip temperature checks and airlines must seat them in a specific manner.

High-risk flights should reduce in-flight services and send any passengers whom staff believe may have the virus to a quarantine area, then notify the destination airport.

Editor: James Boynton