Airlines Planning More Flights to China

More and more airlines are planning on flights to China, counting on the travel restrictions imposed because of coronavirus starting to dissipate.

China has restricted international passenger flights to its borders since March, covid-19/#2edfd1931dec” target=”_blank” rel=”nofollow noopener noreferrer”>according to Forbes, basically limiting airlines to just one flight a week to mainland China.

No official change in policy has been announced yet, but as the world starts to reopen after a devastating three months fighting the virus, several airlines – notably Asiana Airlines, Korean Air, Qatar Airways, Turkish Airlines – are expecting to revive service to China.

United Airlines earlier said it will “pencil in” a re-launch of service to Beijing, Chengdu and Shanghai, saying in a memo to employees that “We continue to work out the feasibility of restarting passenger service to China.”

South Korea’s Asiana Airlines plans to resume 12 routes to China in June, adding to sister airline Korean Air’s re-launch. Korean Air and Asiana’s planned destinations include Beijing and Shanghai. Forbes noted that Beijing has even stricter international arrival rules that require incoming flights first land at a neighboring airport to complete health checks outside of the capital.

Qatar Airways said it expects to serve Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai by the end of June.

Turkish Airlines plans to resume Shanghai in June and then add Beijing and Guangzhou in July, according to a preliminary plan posted by local media.