All the passengers on the direct flight are international students heading to 23 UK universities. Photo: cnsphoto

Hainan Airlines flight HU7953 carrying 74 Chinese students took off from Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport early on Monday morning heading to Manchester, marking the first international chartered flight organized by a domestic airline for students going back to school since the COVID-19 outbreak.

All the passengers on the direct flight were international students heading to 23 UK universities. A second flight for international students took off from the same airport two hours later heading toward the same destination.

All passengers were reached out to by Hainan Airlines staff via the list provided by universities in the UK. The economy class tickets cost 11,880 yuan excluding tax and business class fares were 32,880 yuan. 

The flights mark the beginning of regular flights between the two sides.

Hainan Airlines, together with the corresponding universities in the UK, plans to carry out more than 90 flights from Chongqing to Manchester and Bristol from September 21 to November 15, transporting about 20,000 overseas students from across the country to return to study in the UK, media reports said.

Initiated by the joint efforts of the aviation authorities and the airline, the flight arrangements came amid rising needs for students to return to school after their education was disrupted by the pandemic worldwide.

Ahead of the flights' departure, the epidemic prevention work inside the plane was also detailed, along with separate waiting areas, separate border guards and security channels arranged at the local airport in Chongqing.

Although passengers entering the UK do not need a nucleic acid test, online confirmation for their corresponding information and a health check before boarding were requested, and upon their arrival in the UK all students need to self-quarantine for 14 days, according to the local rules.

Up to now, the airline has carried out charter flights for several countries from Chongqing, including flights to Tel Aviv and Belgrade, helping students and workers with a gradual resumption of normality in the post-COVID-19 era, the industry news site caacnews.com.cn reported on Monday.