China's aviation sector is seeking to turn over its losses into profits this year with an expected recovery to 85% of its pre-COVID volume of domestic passenger trips, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC).

The aviation regulator said air passenger trips would likely exceed 570 million in 2022, compared with about 660 million in 2019 before the disruptions brought by Covid-19.

"Barring repeated fluctuations in COVID-19, we will strive to reverse losses and achieve profitability this year," the CAAC said in a statement.

The sector has been mired in deep losses since Covid-19 struck in early 2020, with China's three biggest airlines, Air China, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines, posting a combined loss of 32.5 billion yuan (US$5.10 billion) in the first three quarters of 2021, after recording 42 billion yuan in losses for 2020.

CAAC also said China aims to have over 270 civil airport by 2025, part of the nation's next five-year development plan for the aviation sector compared to the 241 civil airports in the end of 2020.