(Yicai Global) March 12 -- Air passenger traffic through China plummeted by 84.5 percent annually in February as the coronavirus weighed on global travel plans.

Some 8.34 million passengers traveled in and out of China last month, Xiong Jie, spokesman for the Civil Aviation Administration of China, said at a press briefing today.

Turnover in China's aviation industry slumped 73.9 percent to 2.52 billion ton-kilometers, he added, saying airlines transported 297,000 tons of cargo and mail, down 21 percent.