Airlines from both home and abroad are resuming international flights as China prepares to lift COVID-related travel restrictions on January 8, and Southeast Asian countries are quickly becoming the most popular destinations for Chinese tourists.
Spring Airlines, located in Shanghai, announced that it will restart service from Shanghai to Hong Kong, Taipei, and Phuket, as well as a route from Guangzhou to Chiang Mai, in January, and that it will enhance daily frequency from Shanghai to Bangkok and Guangzhou to Phnom Penh.
Spring Airlines currently serves 18 international destinations, including Hong Kong, Macau, Seoul, and Tokyo.
Juneyao Air said that from January 18, it will resume daily international passenger flights from Shanghai to Chiang Mai.
Juneyao Air told the Global Times that, with the exception of Chiang Mai, it has thoroughly encouraged the return of other overseas services. Flights will primarily serve Southeast Asia, Japan, and South Korea.
According to data provided to the Global Times on Thursday by industry information source VariFlight, there were 1,371 flights from the Chinese mainland to Southeast Asia in December.
The increase in international flights came after China announced plans to end incoming quarantine for international arrivals and to restart orderly outbound transit for Chinese people beginning January 8.
The enhancement of coronavirus reactions has resulted in increased travel demand for the impending Spring Festival holidays later in January.
According to Trip.com, as of January 5, abroad travel orders for the seven-day event had climbed by 540 percent over the previous year, with the average booking cost increasing by 32 percent.
According to Trip.com, Australia, Thailand, Japan, Hong Kong, and Malaysia are among the top ten outbound travel destinations for the Spring Festival.
Orders for the Spring Festival to Melbourne, Australia, climbed more than 50 times year on year, while orders to Bangkok increased more than ten times.
According to Hainan Airlines, inbound foreign flights will land directly in Beijing beginning January 12, rather than being diverted to other locations.
Scheduled routes include Beijing to Berlin, Manchester, Brussels, Belgrade, and Moscow.
Hainan Airlines stated that it will resume international flights as soon as possible and will do everything possible to accommodate passenger demand, both inbound and outgoing.
Qatar Airways has announced that weekly round-trip flights between Doha and Shanghai would restart on January 15.
Thai Airways will begin the round-trip Chengdu-Bangkok flight on January 19, with one flight every Thursday.
In January, Korean Air restarted service on the Shenzhen, Xiamen, and Seoul routes, while the Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenyang, and Dalian routes increased one frequency each week.
Korean Air’s weekly round-trip flights between China and South Korea will rise to 15 flights.
