Photo: Courtesy of China Southern Airlines

Data from VariFlight showed that a total of 1,006 flights in and out of Beijing were cancelled by 10:10 am on Wednesday as the city has raised its COVID-19 emergency response status to level 2, under which residents are required to test negative for the virus via nucleic acid test within seven days of departure the city if necessary.

Beijing Capital International Airport have canceled 377 flights on Wednesday, accounting for more than 46 percent of the total planned for the day, according to data VariFlight sent to the Global Times.

Meanwhile, Beijing Daxing International Airport have canceled 197 on the same day, representing more than 50 percent of its total planned.

Many domestic airlines including Air China and China Southern Airlines have started to refund tickets free of charge for flights in and out of Beijing, domestic news site nbd.com.cn reported on Wednesday.

It said the number of canceled flights in and out of Beijing soared on Tuesday as the city ramped up efforts to combat COVID-19, with 313 canceled yesterday, accounting for about 40 percent of the total scheduled.

Lin Zhijie, a veteran market watcher, told the Global Times on Wednesday that the new coronavirus outbreak in Beijing mainly affects the city's aviation market, and its impact across the country will depend on whether the spread to other provinces and cities can be controlled.

He predicted the number of flights in and out of Beijing would drop over 40 percent on Wednesday on a weekly basis, and that Air China, China Southern Airlines and China Eastern Airline would feel the most impact due to their large share in the market.

A total of 500 flights carrying 32,000 passengers will fly into and out of Beijing Capital International Airport on Wednesday, the airport told the Global Times. That is significantly less than last week due to a rise in COVID-19 cases. The airport saw 901 flights carrying 82,700 passengers last Wednesday.

Apart from air travel, some trans-provincial traffic to and from Beijing has been suspended due to tightened COVID-19 prevention measures and a remarkable drop in passenger numbers.

According to industry information website e2go.com.cn, buses from Beijing Daxing International Airport to Tangshan in North China's Hebei Province were suspended from Tuesday. Buses from Beijing Capital International Airport to Baoding, Hebei Province were halted from Wednesday.

Beijing also suspended the city's taxi and car-hailing outbound services on Monday.