Air cargo and passenger traffic in China this year will show a “big difference” from 2011, due in large part to the European economic crisis, a Chinese airline chairman said on Monday.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the annual parliamentary session in Beijing, Liu Shaoyong, chairman of China Eastern Airlines, said passenger and cargo volume in the first half of the year would show the biggest impact, with improvement in the second half.

He did not provide specific details or project the economic impact on his company.