China Southern Airlines safely carried 91.8 million passengers in 2013, ranked the first in Asia, according to a press release from the airlines.

The passenger traffic increased 6.1 percent from 2012. Freight traffic in 2013 was 1.28 million metric tons, a year-on-year growth of 3.6 percent.

China Southern Airlines has the best safety record among Chinese airlines, with no accidents in the past 235 months. By the end of 2013, the airline recorded 11.8 million safe flying hours.

The Guangzhou-based company vigorously expanded its overseas market in 2013, adding a direct flight service between Guangzhou and Russia. It also scheduled more flights between the provincial capital of Guangdong and other countries, including Australia, New Zealand, England and Canada.

China Southern now has more than 40 international air routes and, by cooperating with Sky Team Alliance members, it has built an airline network connecting 187 countries and regions.

Li Jiaxiang, director of the Civil Aviation Administration of China, visited the crew members of China Southern Airlines' flight CZ6283 at Beijing Capital International Airport on New Year's Eve and wrote "New Year and New Heights", to encourage the airline to aim even higher in 2014.

The airlines' leaders, including its chairman Si Xianmin and Party chief Zhang Zifang, also visited crew members at airports in Guangzhou; Jieyang, Guangdong province; and Guiyang, Guizhou province to extend New Year wishes.

xujingxi@chinadaily.com.cn