International Flights Will Be Increased Gradually

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An Airbus A350-900 arrives at the Baoan International Airport in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, Jan 6, 2022. 

China's aviation industry shows signs of resuming regular global travel routes

Airlines have announced they will increase the number of scheduled international flights soon, drawing widespread attention.

Outbound international flight bookings for October have seen a big increase, with more carriers opening new routes or restarting flights.

The number of outbound flights for October is currently 1,644, an increase of 35 percent from the previous month, according to data sent to the Global Times on Wednesday by information provider VariFlight.

According to VariFlight, a China-based civil aviation data service provider, from Oct 10 to 16 the company operated 64 international flights. It operated 234 international flights for the entirety of September.

China Southern,  said last week it will resume scheduled international flights at the end of this month, including Guangzhou-Jakarta, Dalian-Tokyo, Guangzhou-Dubai and Guangzhou-Manila, the company plans to operate 86 international flights every week, and the current international flights are 71 per week.

Other airlines including Hainan Airlines and Xiamen Airlines also announced plans to increase international flights soon.

According to Li Xiaojin, a professor of aviation economics at the Civil Aviation University of China in Tianjin, international passenger flights are a very important source of income for airline companies, especially larger airliners.

Before the pandemic, about 10 percent of air travelers were international passengers, but they contributed nearly 30 percent of the revenue of the civil aviation industry, he noted.

Data released by the CAAC in August last year showed that China operated 230 international passenger flights every week, about 2.15 percent of the volume seen in 2019.

Policies have been released to boost the sector's recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

In May, the State Council, China's Cabinet, issued a notice to boost the economy, including the orderly resumption of international passenger flights.

In June, China eased the quarantine policy for inbound travelers. According to the latest epidemic control protocol, inbound travelers will be placed under isolation to undergo medical observation at designated sites for seven days followed by three days of home health monitoring, reducing the quarantine time from 21 to 10 days.

In August, the CAAC shortened the suspension time for international flights if confirmed cases were found onboard.