The Lunar New Year holidays in early February — traditionally a peak travel period — failed to significantly lift domestic traffic for China’s three largest carriers, amid a surge in coronavirus infections. While traffic rose substantially on a year-on-year basis, the ‘Big Three’ — comprising Air China, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines — only saw marginal increases in domestic traffic against January. Of the three carriers, only China Southern saw a minimal rise in capacity month on month, with the other two slashing capacity amid domestic travel curbs. China Eastern, the only carrier to provide analysis on its traffic results, says the Lunar New Year period in early February was “generally characterised…as low passenger traffic”, with the bulk of travellers migrant workers and those returning to their hometowns for the festive period. The SkyTeam carrier adds: “The number of passengers [during the Lunar New Year period] … did not resume to the pre-epidemic level, [though there was] substantial growth as compared to 2021.” China is battling a record spike in coronavirus infections, brought about by the more contagious Omicron variant of the coronavirus. In February, Air China carried around 4.3m domestic passengers, a 26% year-on-year increase. Against January, the figure is just 0.4% higher. Domestic traffic rose 28.5%, while capacity was up 21% year on year. The Beijing-based carrier cut capacity by 7% compared to January, presumably as a result of travel restrictions imposed on several provinces. <br/>
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Singapore Airlines and its low-cost carrier Scoot will expand its vaccinated travel lane (VTL) network in the coming weeks to connect 66 cities in 27 countries. "New VTL services will be added progressively to selected cities in Southeast Asia and India, as well as Athens, from Mar 16, 2022," the airlines' parent company SIA Group said on Tuesday. More non-VTL flights will also be converted to VTL flights for certain destinations, it added. Reporting its operating results for February, SIA Group said passenger capacity fell slightly to 44% of pre-COVID-19 levels. This is 2% lower than in January, "attributable to February being a shorter month", it said. Passenger capacity is expected to reach around 57% of what it was pre-COVID-19 by April this year. The group passenger load factor was 39.1% in February, a 0.9% drop from the month before. The figure is a 29.4% rise from the same time last year. VTL ticket sales remained subjected to a 50% reduction in arrival quotas in the first half of February. "On Feb 16, 2022, Singapore announced that it would remove the 50 per cent cap, and progressively increase the VTL quota for daily arrivals from 5,000 to 15,000, by Mar 4, 2022," said SIA Group. <br/>
New Zealand will scrap its strict border controls early because the country's world-leading pandemic response has made it "a safe place to visit", PM Jacinda Ardern said Wednesday. "We're ready to welcome the world back," Ardern said. "I'm proud that New Zealand is a country able at this moment in time to provide a safe place for our tourists to return to." Ardern said that vaccinated Australians could visit without undergoing quarantine or self-isolation from April, rather than the July date originally planned. Travellers from nations that have visa-free arrangements with New Zealand - including major markets in the Northern Hemisphere, Japan, Singapore, Korea and Taiwan -- will be allowed to do the same from May 1. Ardern described the change as a major boost for New Zealand's struggling tourism industry. "We are ready to safely move into a new chapter of our management of the pandemic, this change brings with it huge economic opportunities," she said. Air New Zealand welcomed the change, saying it was ready to ramp up services to meet demand. "It's no secret the past two years have been extremely turbulent for people -- there's a real buzz today," airline CE Greg Foran said. "New Zealand holds a special place in many people's hearts, whether they’re a Kiwi or visitor, touching down on New Zealand soil will be a moment to remember." The announcement did not cover arrivals from countries such as China and India, where visas are required to visit New Zealand, who must currently self isolate for 10 days upon arrival.<br/>