File photo shows a view of the Lujiazui area in Shanghai, east China. Photo:Xinhua

Shanghai is no longer a first entry point for international flights to Beijing, the civil regulator said on Monday.

The note posted on the website of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said that  Chengdu, Changsha, Hefei and Lanzhou were added as new first entry points for the capital, with Wuhan added as a standby first entry point.

There are 16 entry points for Beijing, including Wuhan, CAAC said.

"Adding Wuhan as a standby entry point for Beijing shows Wuhan is safe now," Wang Guangfa, a respiratory expert at Peking University First Hospital, told the Global Times on Monday. Only 300 silent virus carriers have been discovered during a recent city-wide COVID-19 screening in Wuhan, which proves that COVID-19 infection risks in Wuhan have largely decreased, according to Wang. 

Flights between Wuhan and Beijing will resume on June 9, one round-trip flight per day from Wuhan Tianhe airport to Beijing Daxing International Airport, according to the Wuhan traffic authority.

Entry points are intended to disperse passengers for Beijing to prevent and control virus spread during the epidemic. The addition of more cities as entry points for Beijing is aimed at enhancing Beijing's quarantine capacity to ensure the capital's safety during the  epidemic prevention and control period, experts said.  

"The move means that in the coming days, flights which are supposed to land in Beijing will not need to stop at Shanghai first, and it is highly probable Shanghai will begin to welcome more newly resumed international flights," Qin Ling, a market watcher, told the Global Times on Monday.

Data from the Shanghai Airport Authority showed that the daily landing and take-off flights in 2019 at Shanghai Pudong International Airport was around 1,400, and 750 for Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport. But the numbers dramatically declined due to the COVID-19, and information provider VariFlight showed on Sunday that two airports in Shanghai had less than 1,500 flights landing and taking off, and most were domestic flights.

But the numbers dramatically declined due to the COVID-19, and information provider VariFlight showed on Sunday that two airports in Shanghai had less than 1,500 flights landing and taking off, and most were domestic flights.

Wang also noted the increasing epidemic prevention and control pressure Shanghai is facing during its production resumption period. International passenger flow to Shanghai will also surge. Under this circumstance, Shanghai is not suitable to be an entry point for Beijing as it has to deal with its own anti-epidemic pressure.  

The move came three days after Beijing announced the easing of restrictions on people from Hubei, including Wuhan, to enter the capital. 

People from Hubei to Beijing do not need to take 14-day quarantine and only need to provide one negative nucleic acid test result after arriving, according to the new policy. 

The CAAC said international passengers to Beijing can receive epidemic prevention and control checks and go through entry formalities at first entry points. They can continue to fly to Beijing after passing the check. 

The CAAC noted that policies on first entry points for Beijing will be adjusted according to the epidemic situation.

All international flights to Beijing must first travel to one of designated Chinese cities so that passengers can undergo quarantine before they are allowed to enter the capital, to ensure no new cases broke out in Beijing.

Beijing has not reported new COVID-19 cases for 53 consecutive days as of Sunday.