CHINA. In deeply significant news, China has announced plans to increase international flights to and from China from the second half of 2022, according to a well-sourced report in state-owned media Global Times.
The statement came from Xu Qing, a senior official from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), who said that the move takes into consideration the travel needs of international personnel exchanges and overseas students.
In recent days, China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines, Hainan Airlines, Tianjin Airlines and Xiamen Airlines have announced the reopening of international routes or expanded their flight schedules.
Hainan Airlines reopened routes from Beijing to Moscow on 12 July and then Beijing to Belgrade on 16 July. Tianjin Airlines is resuming a weekly route from Tianjin to Osaka from 19 July, marking the airline’s first international route since the beginning of the COVID crisis.
International airlines have also started reopening routes to China. On 11 July, Japan’s All Nippon Airways (ANA) reopened flights from Beijing to Tokyo, marking the airline’s first Beijing flight in over two years. Air France is resuming a weekly Paris to Beijing flight from 22 July.
China is planning to welcome 2,025 inbound international passengers from 4 July until the end of the month, representing a +24% increase versus the same period in 2021, according to VariFlight.
To support the gradual reopening of international travel, China halved quarantine restrictions to seven days (plus three days of home monitoring) versus 14 days on 28 June. China’s embassies and consulates are also working to streamline testing and quarantine requirements for inbound passengers. This includes the removal of the requirement to take an antigen test 12 hours before flying.
