(Yicai Global) Aug. 31 -- Southern China's tropical tax-free destination Sanya has welcomed an increasing number of flight passengers while the global aviation sector recovers slowly from the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic.

By the end of this month, Sanya Phoenix International Airport's daily domestic passenger throughput has risen by 5 percent from a year ago while the number of flights has increased by 10 percent as the epidemic is brought under control and the island's new duty-free policy attracts visitors, the Paper reported today, citing the airport.

Hot summer months used to be off-season for China's southernmost province but the government's move in July to slash import taxes on products to be carried out of the island has changed that.

Students and groups increasingly chose Sanya as their travel destination during summer holidays as the domestic tourism market rebounds, the report added.

From July 1 to Aug. 18, Hainan province's four tax-free stores logged sales exceeding CNY5 billion (USD729.7 million), nearly three times that of a year earlier. Meanwhile, daily sales surpassed CNY100 million (USD14.6 million) on average.

In the two months of July and August, the airport should have nearly 19,700 flights, rising 2 percent from a year ago. Some 3 million passengers are bound to take these flights, falling 2 percent.

Editor: Emmi Laine