Photo: Courtesy of China Southern Airlines

Shanghai is speeding up the recovery of passenger and cargo transportation with the city in full swing to restore normal business operation and services, following a 2-month COVID lockdown.

China Southern Airlines said on Tuesday that it has restarted a flight route from Shanghai to Shenyang, Northeast China's Liaoning Province on Monday, which is the carrier's first passenger flight departing Shanghai since the city ended the lockdown on June 1.

China Southern Airlines said it will gradually resume passenger flights to and from Shanghai.

Photo: Courtesy of China Southern Airlines

China Eastern Airlines' logistics arm is now accelerating the resumption of cargo services. On Tuesday, a flight from Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam arrived in Shanghai, carrying electronic components, following a passenger-to-cargo flight from Shanghai to Osaka on Monday. 

Between June 1 and June 5, China Eastern Airlines undertook a total of 232 passenger-to-cargo flights, transporting 4,215 tons of cargo, an increase of 383.3 percent and 390.1 percent respectively over the first five days last month, the airline told the Global Times. 

Photo: Courtesy of China Eastern Airlines

Shanghai-based China Eastern said it has unsealed a total of 236 aircraft as of the end of May, and 132 aircraft are expected to be unsealed in June to facilitate a speedy resumption of work and production.

With the quickening pace of restoration of normal production and social activity in Shanghai, the volume of cargo flights at Shanghai Pudong International Airport has picked up recently. 

Data from Shanghai General Station of Immigration Inspection showed that during the three-day Dragon Boat Festival holidays from June 3 to 5, there were more than 600 inbound and outbound cargo flights which landed at Pudong airport, at an average of more than 200 flights per day, with the number of cargo flights coming close to normal levels.

Global Times