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

China will enhance communication with countries to increase international flights during the second half of this year, an official from Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said on Tuesday, as China relaxes inbound travel restrictions. 

Xu Qing, an official from the CAAC said the move takes consideration of the demand for international personnel exchanges such as overseas students returning to China.

A number of domestic and international carriers have resumed international flight services in recent days, with China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines, Hainan Airlines and Xiamen Airlines announcing a resumption of international routes or increased frequency of flights.

Hainan Airlines said it will resume route from Beijing to Belgrade on July 16, which is one of the first regular routes for the carrier in Beijing to resume services, followed by a route from Beijing to Moscow on July 12.

Tianjin Airlines said it will also resume a route from Tianjin to Osaka in Japan from July 19, and the regular route, which will fly once per week is the first one relaunched by the carrier's  international arm since the beginning of  the epidemic.

Japan's All Nippon Airways resumed flights from Beijing to Tokyo from July 11. It is the carrier's first flight to Beijing after being suspended for more than two years. The flight is scheduled to fly on Mondays.

Air France said it will resume a weekly flight from Paris to Beijing from July 22.

China is scheduled to welcome 2,025 inbound passenger flights from July 4 to the end of this month, a 24 percent increase compared to the same period in 2021, according to industry information provider VariFlight. 

The CAAC said last month that it has been negotiating with some countries to gradually and steadily increase regular international passenger flights to meet the needs of personnel exchanges.

The country also halved the collective quarantine time for international arrivals to seven days from the previous 14 days, providing new impetus for the outbound travel market.

After halving the collective quarantine time for international inbound travelers, China has made one of its most substantial adjustments since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, as its embassies and consulates in 125 countries announced policies to streamline procedures for people entering the Chinese mainland. Those changes include cancelling the requirement for an antigen test 12 hours before boarding.

Global Times