Chinese domestic flight activity has picked up as the nation has scaled back its strict zero-Covid policies, hitting about 65% of pre-pandemic levels by the start of this week, according to a new Bloomberg report that cites aviation data. The report notes, that is roughly equivalent to several thousand more flights per day taking off.

There has also been a surge in ticket sales for travel during the upcoming Lunar New Year period. Guo Lechun, an analyst with Qunar’s data research arm Qunar, said in the report, that holiday bookings were expected to reach the highest level in three years, at 80% of pre-pandemic levels.

On the day that the government announced there would be an elimination of most Covid restrictions, including mass testing and snap lockdowns, December 7th, air travel searches skyrocketed 900%.

The global aviation industry was devastated by the pandemic, especially in hard-hit China, the home of the largest domestic air-travel market. China’s top airlines, China Southern Airlines, China Eastern Airlines and Air China, lost about 152 billion yuan ($21.8 billion) since the beginning of 2020.

Parash Jain, head of transport research for Asia Pacific at HSBC Holdings, predicts that Chinese airlines will make a small profit in 2023, before producing record earnings in 2024.

Jain said, “If you look at around the world, air ticket prices are materially higher than in 2019. But when you look at China’s domestic air tickets, even into the third quarter of 2022, it’s about 15% lower than that of 2019.”