China Drastically Cuts International Flights to Curb COVID-19

Wherever you are in the world, it looks like its best to sit tight and hunker down for the coming months. 

On Thursday, China announced more stringent measures in an effort to curb the ‘second wave’ of the coronavirus pandemic. First, foreigners with visa and residence permits will be temporarily barred from entering the country, and the second – international passengers flights will be drastically limited. 

In an official notice, The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) will be cutting international passenger flights effective March 29, by only allowing each Chinese airline to maintain one route per country, once a week. Airlines flying into the country will face the same restrictions. 

Additionally, on inbound and outbound flights to China, airlines must “ensure passenger load factor [is] no higher than 75%.” The notice states that, depending on the situation of the pandemic, CAAC may further reduce the total number of international passenger flights. 

Local transmission has slowed on the Chinese mainland, with the bulk of new reported cases from returning travelers. China has the second most confirmed cases worldwide (82,094), having been surpassed by the US (85,840), which has been dubbed the new epicenter of the coronavirus. 

READ MORE: 90% of China’s Imported COVID-19 Cases are Chinese Nationals

[Cover image via That’s]