China eases airline suspension rules for inbound flights with Covid-19 cases

Aviation authorities announce relaxation of bans for international flights exceeding case number threshold
Adjustment is in keeping with State Council directions to promote people exchanges between China and other countries: CAAC

Coronavirus China

Guo Rui

Published: 6:00pm, 8 Aug 2022

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In a further sign of more relaxed rules for travellers into China, the country’s civil aviation regulator has halved the suspension period for inbound flights exceeding limits for onboard Covid-19 cases.

The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) issued a notice on Sunday to relax so-called circuit breaker measures that suspend international routes if the number of Covid-19 patients exceeds a case threshold.

The new measure reduces the previous maximum circuit breaker period from eight to four weeks and the minimum period from two weeks to one.

01:20

Hazmat suits and face shields worn by nearly every traveller flying to China

Under new rules for inbound flights carrying either five confirmed cases, or when infections are found in 4 per cent of passengers, the route will be suspended for one week and when the percentage reaches 8 per cent, it will be halted for two weeks.

Previously, if an airline carried five confirmed cases on a single inbound flight, the flight was suspended for two weeks, or the airline was limited to filling just 40 per cent of seats for four weeks. For two consecutive flights with 10 or more cases each, the flight was suspended immediately and halted for a total of 8 weeks.

The pandemic was already wreaking havoc on aviation in China when Beijing issued the circuit breaker rules in January for international and domestic flights, adding to the industry’s struggle to recover.

The CAAC said the adjustment was in keeping with State Council directions to promote people exchanges between China and other countries as well as to ensure the prevention and control of the coronavirus was “scientific and precise”.

Several Chinese airlines have resumed international routes since Premier Li Keqiang called for an increase in domestic and international passenger flights, and to ease exchanges between China and foreign businesspeople.

In June, the CAAC said it was negotiating with some countries to gradually and steadily increase the number of scheduled international passenger flights to meet the people-to-people exchange goal.

China has recently reduced quarantine time for overseas arrivals but remains among a handful of countries that still have such rules.

03:04

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People arriving in mainland China must quarantine for seven days at a government-run facility, followed by a further three days at home in isolation, according to new guidelines released by the National Health Commission in late June.

Previously, the requirement was 14 days in quarantine and seven days in home isolation.

Shanghai-based financial media outlet Yicai reports that the number of flights this year that triggered circuit breakers and were cancelled was triple last year’s figure.

Social media users said they were grateful for the easing of rules. On Weibo, China’s Twitter-like platform, one user from Guangdong province said it signalled a gradual opening up.

And a user from Sichuan province said she looked forward to the day when the circuit breaker policy was cancelled altogether.