Beijing to resume direct international flights

China will gradually resume direct international flights to Beijing, aviation authorities said on Wednesday, after a freeze of more than five months.

The new rules will apply from Thursday first to flights from eight countries: Thailand, Cambodia, Pakistan, Greece, Denmark, Austria, Sweden and Canada, all with low numbers of imported cases of the virus which has hammered global travel.

“Starting September 3, international passenger flights to Beijing, which previously had their entry points diverted, will gradually resume,” said the Civil Aviation Administration of China in a statement, without specifying if passengers would have to be nationals of the eight countries.

The first flight after the resumption of operation will fly from Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

The easing begins “as epidemic prevention and control becomes normalized,” it said, but stressed a “circuit breaker” would remain.

According to the reward and suspension policy, if all inbound passengers on an airline test negative for three weeks in a row, it will be allowed to increase its number of flights to two per week.

If over five passengers test positive, the airline’s flight will be suspended for a week. The suspension will be four weeks if more than 10 passengers on the flight test positive.

Flights that are suspended and those with more than three imported cases will be diverted again.

Negative COVID-19 test results before boarding will be a prerequisite for passengers of Beijing-bound flights, said Xu Hejian, spokesperson for the Beijing municipal government.

Passengers will be tested for COVID-19 in a special section at the Beijing Capital International Airport after going through customs clearance and inspection upon arrival. The travelers must also undergo a mandatory 14-day concentrated medical observation. Those who test positive for COVID-19 or develop fever or symptoms of respiratory illness will be transferred to designated hospitals, including their close contacts, Xu added.

The number of passengers on direct international flights to Beijing will be capped at around 500 each day during the trial period. The number is expected to double after the trial run ends, Xu said.

Since late March, Beijing-bound international flights have been diverted to other Chinese cities where passengers are screened for the coronavirus before being allowed to travel on to Beijing.

As of Tuesday, the CAAC said 511 international flights had undergone diversion.

Life in Beijing has largely returned to normal, although temperature tests are common when entering buildings. Some places require people to scan a QR code logging their visit on a ubiquitous health app.

The easing in flight rules comes as the rate of infection slowed to eight cases — all imported — on Wednesday in China.