What’s new: China’s civil aviation regulator will terminate all pandemic restrictions on international flights as of Jan. 8, according to a document issued Wednesday.
The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) in its Work Plan to Resume International Flights said previous Covid controls including the so-called “five one” policy will be removed. The policy, in effect since March 2020, allows Chinese mainland carriers to fly just one flight a week on one route to any country and foreign airlines to operate just one flight a week to China.
China will no longer rate the risk level of inbound flights and will scrap capacity caps for airlines, according to the documents. Quarantine and virus test requirements for airport workers and international flight crews will also be removed.
Background: The National Health Commission said Monday it would downgrade the management of Covid-19 in a major shift as the country pivots from the “zero Covid” strategy. Under the less-stringent management approach, China will stop requiring inbound travelers to go into quarantine and will remove restrictions on international flights beginning Jan. 8, the NHC said.
The changes mark a long-anticipated step toward opening up the country’s borders which have been largely closed for the past three years.
The CAAC said Wednesday that it would resume reviews of applications for international charter flights and that it expects the procedure to return to the pre-pandemic level by fall 2023.
A CAAC official told Caixin that airlines have started submitting applications to add services since the NHC announcement. But due to limited supportive capacity at airports, the recovery will be gradual.
Contact reporter Han Wei (weihan@caixin.com) and editor Bob Simison (bob.simison@caixin.com)
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