BEIJING -- China's civil aviation industry recorded solid growth in the first half of this year, official data showed.

In the first six months, the industry handled over 245 million passenger trips, a jump of 66.4 percent from a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Transport.

In June alone, approximately 41.3 million passenger trips were handled by air, up 34.2 percent year on year.

The volume of mail and cargo transported by air reached 3.74 million tonnes in the January-June period, up 24.6 percent year on year, the ministry said.

According to an earlier prediction from the Civil Aviation Administration of China, the country's civil aviation regulator, passenger trips are expected to recover to around 90 percent of the pre-epidemic level in 2021.

The volume of air cargo and mail is also expected to bounce back to the pre-epidemic level, the administration said.