South Korean airlines slowly resume China services, but passenger traffic still down over 95%
Major South Korean carriers are slowly resuming flights into several cities in China, although the number and level of passengers pales in comparison to the robust schedules before the strict border controls introduced by Beijing two and a half years ago to contain the spread of the coronavirus. Some 1,649 flights travelled between South Korea and China in September, according to the South Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, carrying 50,289 passengers. This represented an improvement from August, but still considerably lower than the 10,261 flights that carried 1.47m passengers in November 2019 before the start of the pandemic. “There were nearly no flights between Korea and China until last September, or there would be so many cases where flights would abruptly get cancelled because there were Covid patients on previous flights,” said Bae Bo-kyun, president of the Korean Merchants Association in Foshan in China’s southern Guangdong province. “My plan on returning to China was postponed by two months because my flights got cancelled twice.” On Tuesday, China’s National Development and Reform Commission released a document containing measures by the top state planner to stabilise and further increase foreign investment, which included moves to “ease” travel by executives, technicians and their families. But China remains committed to its zero-Covid policy, although it recently cut the quarantine period for overseas travellers to seven days plus three days of medical surveillance. Flagship carrier Korean Air, as well as Asiana Airlines, have slowly been resuming their flights from Incheon International Airport, with budget carriers Jin Air, Jeju Air, T’way Air, Air Busan and Air Seoul also now operating flights between South Korea and China. Asiana Airlines announced on Wednesday that it will resume its Incheon to Hangzhou and Shenzhen routes in November, having already resumed services to Beijing, Nanjing, Changchun and Harbin. Asiana Airlines first resumed its services to China in July 2020 on its Incheon-Nanjing route.<br/>
https://portal.staralliance.com/cms/news/hot-topics/2022-10-28/general/south-korean-airlines-slowly-resume-china-services-but-passenger-traffic-still-down-over-95
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South Korean airlines slowly resume China services, but passenger traffic still down over 95%
Major South Korean carriers are slowly resuming flights into several cities in China, although the number and level of passengers pales in comparison to the robust schedules before the strict border controls introduced by Beijing two and a half years ago to contain the spread of the coronavirus. Some 1,649 flights travelled between South Korea and China in September, according to the South Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, carrying 50,289 passengers. This represented an improvement from August, but still considerably lower than the 10,261 flights that carried 1.47m passengers in November 2019 before the start of the pandemic. “There were nearly no flights between Korea and China until last September, or there would be so many cases where flights would abruptly get cancelled because there were Covid patients on previous flights,” said Bae Bo-kyun, president of the Korean Merchants Association in Foshan in China’s southern Guangdong province. “My plan on returning to China was postponed by two months because my flights got cancelled twice.” On Tuesday, China’s National Development and Reform Commission released a document containing measures by the top state planner to stabilise and further increase foreign investment, which included moves to “ease” travel by executives, technicians and their families. But China remains committed to its zero-Covid policy, although it recently cut the quarantine period for overseas travellers to seven days plus three days of medical surveillance. Flagship carrier Korean Air, as well as Asiana Airlines, have slowly been resuming their flights from Incheon International Airport, with budget carriers Jin Air, Jeju Air, T’way Air, Air Busan and Air Seoul also now operating flights between South Korea and China. Asiana Airlines announced on Wednesday that it will resume its Incheon to Hangzhou and Shenzhen routes in November, having already resumed services to Beijing, Nanjing, Changchun and Harbin. Asiana Airlines first resumed its services to China in July 2020 on its Incheon-Nanjing route.<br/>
