A flight of China Southern Airlines Photo: Courtesy of China Southern Airlines

The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said on Friday that it is negotiating with some countries to gradually and steadily increase regular international passenger flights to meet the needs of personnel exchanges.

The remarks came in response to questions at a press conference about whether there will be more international flights in the second half of this year.

Under the premise of ensuring epidemic prevention measures, the orderly arrangement of international flights is conducive for China's economic development and personnel exchanges between China and foreign countries, said Liang Nan, an official from the CAAC. It is also necessary for the sustainable development of the aviation industry, Liang noted.

Liang said that China has maintained regular overseas passenger flights with 54 countries since the epidemic, and the move has "effectively prevented the cross-border spread of the epidemic."

The CAAC has been negotiating with the aviation department of Vietnam and given approval for flights twice a week, up from one flight per week previously, according to industry outlet carnoc.com.

Thai Airways International will resume flights to China on Saturday after Chinese authorities agreed to allow two flights per week from Thailand, according to nationthailand.com on Friday.

Meanwhile, Chinese carriers have also announced new international flights. 

China Southern Airlines said on Thursday that it plans to resume seven international routes from June, and the number of international flights will increase from 36 flights per week to 48 flights and the number of countries will increase from 20 to 27.

China Southern will increase the frequency of flights on the routes from Guangzhou to Yangon and from Guangzhou to Phnom Penh from June, and the route from Guangzhou to Delhi will be resumed as well. 

Hainan Airlines told the Global Times that it will resume direct flights from Chongqing in Southwest China's Sichuan Province to Rome on June 23. This is the first intercontinental international passenger route from Chongqing since the epidemic.

Air China also restarted a route which was suspended for nearly one year from Chengdu to Kathmandu. The flight, which is once per week, is the second international departure from Chengdu to be reopened after flights to Singapore.

In addition to the increase in international flights, the quarantine policy for inbound flights has also been adjusted in many places, further shortening the entry quarantine time.

Currently, the quarantine time for inbound personnel including Nanjing, Hangzhou and Xuzhou in East China's Jiangsu Province, and Wuhan in Central China's Hubei Province has been cut from the original 14 days plus seven days to seven days plus seven days, which shortens the 7-day centralized isolation time.

At the same time, popular tourist destination countries have also liberalized their entry policies. South Korea said on June 8 that all immigrants, regardless of their nationality, will be exempt from quarantine from the same day. Japan announced that it will resume the travel group of 98 countries including China from June 10, and tourists will not need to take COVID-19 tests.