China took drastic decisions to stop the spread of COVID-19 cases in the past few months as the country saw one of the worst surges of the year. The authorities implemented lockdowns in a number of areas, and it also affected the transport in and out of the country. However, with the cases going down, the suspension period for inbound international flights carrying Covid-positive passengers has been shortened for the time being. The Civil Aviation Administration (CAAC) announced that incoming flights carrying the passengers will face a one-week suspension.
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However, the rules will be different if the number of Covid positive passengers exceeded five percent of the total. When the number will be around eight per cent, the CAAC said that the flights will have to be barred for two weeks and it will be the airline’s responsibility to implement it.
The country has been infamous for implementing extremely tough measures in the past and this decision is being considered to be a step towards returning to normalcy.
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The travel ban in China and the grounding of international flights have resulted in massive chaos in the tourism industry. A number of Chinese citizens are also stuck outside the country due to the lack of travel options and it has affected the economy of the country in an extremely adverse manner.
The international border was closed in 2020 when the pandemic started and not much has changed on that front. While some concessions were made, it went back to total lockdown during the recent surge in cases.
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(With inputs from agencies)
