Beijing Daxing International Airport Photo: Xinhua

 

The flight volume of two airports in Beijing are expected to reach 70 percent of daily flights in the same period in 2019 in the near future, CAAC North China Region Administration said on Sunday, showing a rising demand as China has announced a new set of measures to optimize its epidemic control.

On Sunday, the number of daily flights for the two airports, Beijing Capital International Airport and Beijing Daxing International Airport increased by 63 percent than previous days and trend keeps rising, an the growth rate hit 100 percent on Saturday, and 169 percent on Monday, the bureau under the Civil Aviation Administration of China added.

The travel demand has shown an upward trend in North China brought by the continuous optimization measures, the bureau added.

Those quick response of the airports came after China released a circular on further optimizing the COVID-19 response on Wednesday, announcing 10 prevention and control measures.

The measures were introduced based on the latest epidemic situation and mutation of the virus to contain the epidemic in a more science-based and targeted manner, including people will no longer need to show negative virus tests or health codes when traveling between different parts of the country.

The move also triggers other provinces’ growing of air flights. The number of inbound and outbound flights at Haikou Meilan International Airport reached more than 300 on Saturday. Within four days, the number of flights increased from about 200 to more than 300, an increase of 50 percent.

Data from information provider VariFlight showed that the number of domestic passenger flights is expected to be 7,126, reaching 61.28 percent of the level in the same period in 2019.

Domestic airports with a throughput of more than 10 million have shown an upward trend in single-day flight volumes, and 19 airports have seen continuous flight volume growth, among which Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport, Shenyang Taoxin International Airport and Chengdu Tianfu  International Airport have increased for more than nine consecutive days.

However, the international flights have not yet shown a significant recovery momentum. It is estimated that the number of overseas passenger flights was175 on Sunday, which is equivalent to 6.68 percent of the level in 2019, according to VariFlight.

As China's anti-epidemic measures continue to be implemented, and as more provinces announce the cancellation of temporary epidemic prevention zones and the resumption of inter-provincial travel, market analysts said people's willingness to travel is expected to recover.