China's air transport enterprises realized a gross operating revenue of 534.8 billion yuan (about 77.14 billion U.S. dollars) in 2017, a 16 percent year-on-year increase, said the China Air Transport Association (CATA) on Thursday.

Among the total revenue, 501.2 billion yuan came from the air transportation business, which is the primary business sector of China's air transport enterprises, said CATA in its latest analysis report.

The figure was a 17.6-percent year-on-year increase, said the association in its 2017 annual operating report about China's air transport enterprises, released at the 2018 Aviation Trend Conference in Beijing.

"Alongside reform and opening-up, China has seen sustained and rapid growth in the air transport industry, a key factor contributing to the revenue increase of related enterprises," said Liu Shuguo, secretary-general of CATA.

In 2017, China's air transport industry realized a total transport turnover of 108.3 tonne-kilometers, a 12.6 percent year-on-year increase.

The country in 2017 also transported a total of 551 million air passengers and 7.06 million tonnes of air cargo, rising 13 percent and 5.6 percent year on year, respectively.

By the end of 2017, there were a total of 58 public air transport enterprises in China.