Normalizing the “speed” of international flights as China eases COVID-19 quarantine rules

As air passenger demand, which has been slow to recover even after the easing of the COVID-19 crisis, has recently shown signs of rapidly increasing, domestic airlines are focusing on expanding international routes.

It is trying to normalize international flights, focused on Japan, which allowed visa-free entry last month after enforcing intensive quarantine rules after the Corona 19 incident. In particular, attention is being paid to whether l The expansion of routes to China will accelerate as the Chinese government recently relaxed some of the COVID-19 quarantine regulations for foreign arrivals.

According to the airline industry on the 13th, Korean Air will resume operations on major Chinese routes in line with the expansion of Korea-China routes. From the 20th, the Incheon-Shanghai (Pudong Airport) route will be operated every Sunday. From the 7th of next month, it plans to operate the Incheon-Nanjing route every Wednesday. The Incheon-Qingdao route will operate every Sunday from December 11th. Korean Air has been operating the Incheon-Dalian route once a week (Friday) since the 28th of last month and has increased the number of flights between Incheon and Shenyang/Tianjin from once a week to twice a week.

It is also trying to normalize routes to Japan. Korean Air will operate the Incheon-Sapporo route every day from December 1st. On the same day, the Incheon-Okinawa route will resume on a four times a week schedule. Korean Air said, “Since Corona 19, Japan has not been able to travel freely due to strict entry restrictions,” it explained.

In addition, Korean Air will operate the Incheon-Tel Aviv route three times a week from December 26. Tel Aviv, where tradition and modern civilization coexist, is a city in Israel that is a popular pilgrimage site and is located on the Mediterranean coast. In addition to Christian sites such as Jerusalem, Nazareth and the Galilee, it is known as a city visited by many tourists due to its mild climate and exotic natural sceneries such as the Mediterranean Sea and the Dead Sea.

Jeju Air, a domestic low-cost carrier (LCC), is also accelerating the expansion of international routes. Since the 8th of this month, the Busan-Cebu route and the Busan-Chiangmai route since the 11th have been operating seven times a week respectively. It also plans to increase the number of Japanese routes to Tokyo (Narita), Osaka and Fukuoka by increasing the number of twice-daily flights to 168 per week in December. It is also pushing to expand routes to China, such as the resumption of flights between Incheon and Yanji from the 10th of this month.

In the airline industry, there were many reviews saying, “Compared with the recovery of global air passenger demand, the recovery of Korean air passenger demand is slow.” This is because routes to China and Japan, which have a major impact on domestic air passenger demand, have been virtually suspended due to governments’ intense COVID-19 quarantine regulations. As the Japanese and Chinese governments recently eased COVID-19 quarantine rules, domestic airlines are accelerating route expansion between Japan and China. Japan allowed visa-free entry for free travel last month, and China also eased COVID-19 quarantine restrictions slightly for overseas attendees.

On the 11th, China’s State Council Corona 19 Joint Quarantine Control Organization announced that the intensive (facility) quarantine period for foreign arrivals would be shortened from 7 days to 5 days. It is about reducing the quarantine rules for foreign arrivals and close contacts of infected people from the current “facility quarantine 7 days, self-quarantine 3 days” to “facility quarantine 5 days, self-quarantine 3 days”. It also decided to lift the temporary suspension of flights for flights with confirmed cases of corona19. The requirement to obtain a negative nucleic acid test twice within 48 hours prior to embarkation has also been reduced to once.

Reporter Lee Chang-hoon [email protected]