Flight carrying Germans working in China arrives in Qingdao
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A flight carrying German business travelers from Frankfurt, jointly arranged by German Chamber of Commerce in China, German diplomatic missions, and Lufthansa airlines, landed in Tianjin at 11:45 am on May 30, 2020. Photo: Courtesy of Lufthansa Group
German managers,
employees and their families arrived in China to resume their careers on
Thursday, showing the accelerating pace of a return to business as the
COVID-19 pandemic ebbs in China.
The flight landed at Qingdao Liuting International Airport on Thursday, according to the German Chamber of Commerce in China.
This is the third chartered flight arranged by the Chamber, German diplomatic missions in China and Lufthansa Airlines.
The
first flight carrying 200 managers and employees of German companies
and their family members landed at Shanghai Pudong International Airport
on June 4. A similar flight arrived in North China's Tianjin
Municipality at the end of May. One asymptomatic passenger tested
positive for the coronavirus upon arrival.
"We have recently
surveyed our member companies in China, and we know that the economic
effects of international travel restrictions are the most frequently
mentioned issue for German businesses in China," said Jens Hildebrandt,
Executive Director of the German Chamber of Commerce in North China.
"Overall,
the pandemic remains an enormous challenge for the German economy
abroad. Economic relations and exchanges are suffering, and only a few
urgently needed specialists for investment projects or technical
ramp-ups have been able to come to China for short-term stays so far,"
he added.
A survey by the Chamber in May showed about 2,000 to 2,500 German experts, employees and their families want to return to China.
The
Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), China's top civil
aviation regulator, said in June that it would increase the number of
flights from certain countries that meet specific anti-viral
requirements and related criteria, as the demand for business and other
travel to China is skyrocketing due to an accelerating pace of work
resumption following the COVID-19 pandemic.
China-South Korea flights increase
Passenger flights on the tarmac at Kunming Changshui International Airport, Yunnan Province Photo: VCG
Flights between China and South Korea are on track toward further resumption as both countries have brought the coronavirus largely under control.
Air
Busan, the budget carrier owned by Asiana Airlines Inc., said on
Thursday that it will resume China flights next week upon quarantine
approval from China.
Air Busan plans to offer one flight every
Friday on the Incheon-Shenzhen route from July 17, the company said in a
statement, according to the Yonhap News Agency.
The company is
aiming to increase the number of flights on the route to Shenzhen
depending on the Chinese authorities' guidance, according to the
statement. And it aims to restart services on the Incheon-Ningbo route
in August.
Air Busan has suspended all international routes since
March 9 as countries closed their borders or imposed entry restrictions
on incoming passengers amid coronavirus fears.
Asiana Airlines
confirmed with the Global Times that it will also restart services on
the Incheon-Nanjing route, operating one flight per week from Sunday.
The carrier has been operating one flight per week on the
Incheon-Changchun route.
An insider at Korean Air told the Global
Times on Thursday that the airline is negotiating with local Chinese
governments and China's civil aviation regulator, hoping to obtain
confirmation letters from local governments and resume more China-South
Korea routes as soon as possible.
"The results will come out in one or two days," he said.
Data
sent to the Global Times by industry information provider VariFlight
showed that from June 1 to July 7, a total of 10 airlines - seven of
them Chinese - flew one weekly flight between China and South Korea.
Korean
Air, Asiana Airlines and Jeju Air fly one weekly flight from Incheon to
cities including Shenyang, Changchun and Weihai. The seven Chinese
carriers included Air China, China Southern Airlines and China Eastern
Airlines, and each operated one weekly flight from cities including
Qingdao, Shenyang and Xiamen.
Insiders said Chinese airlines
have been permitted to add three weekly flights between the two
countries, and South Korean carriers can add seven, which could double
the total number of flights between China and South Korea.
Asiana
Airlines said on its WeChat account on Thursday that it will operate
weekly flights from Incheon to both Changchun and Nanjing in July and
August, starting next week.
If it goes smooth, the Seoul-based
Asiana Airlines will be the first that is allowed to add a new flight
route from Nanjing to Seoul with permission from local authorities
between China and South Korea.
Asiana Airlines follows foreign
carriers Delta Air Lines, Lufthansa and United Airlines in receiving
permission to operate two flights in and two flights out of China every
week, breaking the "Five One" policy.
Chinese regulators
introduced the "Five One" policy at the end of March, limiting all
domestic airlines to one international flight to one country per week,
and allowing foreign airlines to fly into China no more than once per
week.
But in June, the Civil Aviation Administration of China
(CAAC) announced new criteria for countries permitted flights to and
from China. Countries that have close economic ties with China,
countries that have effective anti-coronavirus capabilities, countries
with an urgent need to send personnel to resume work in China or
countries that have already established "green channels" for business
travel to China, and countries with high numbers of stranded Chinese
nationals are now permitted to facilitate flights to and from China.
As
early as May, the CAAC allowed domestic and foreign passenger airlines
to apply for "green channels" for chartered flights to airports in the
Chinese mainland. Eight countries have successfully applied: Japan,
South Korea, Singapore, the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Switzerland.
Source: Globaltimes.cn
-END-
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