What’s new: China’s civil aviation regulator vowed to firmly stick to the “dynamic Zero-Covid” policy and general strategy to “prevent imported cases and resurgence of internal cases” as the country battles the worst pandemic outbreak in two years.
In addition to strictly implementing flight circuit-breaker measures, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) will further tighten closed-loop management and airport area prevention and control measures, the regulator said Monday at a press conference.
Since the beginning of 2022, China has suspended 664 international flights, about 40% of the total number of suspended flights since circuit-breaker measures were put in place in June 2020, the CAAC said.
Under circuit-breaker rules, if the number of passengers who test positive for Covid-19 on an airline’s route reaches five, the route is suspended for one week. If the number reaches 10, the route will be suspended for four weeks.
The background: Since Shanghai, a major hub for international flights, emerged as the epicenter of the latest Covid outbreak, suspensions of domestic and international flights at the city’s two airports of the city have multiplied.
There were only a handful of flights in an out of Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport last week and the Pudong International Airport. Shanghai has also encouraged residents not to leave the city unless necessary.
The city of 25 million has locked people at home and has reported more than 130,000 cases since March 1.
Contact reporter Denise Jia (huijuanjia@caixin.com) and editor Bob Simison (bob.simison@caixin.com)
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