China downgraded its COVID management measures from Class A to Class B since January 8, 2023 as the nation readies for normal life. The photo shows Beijing welcomed its first inbound flight carrying 291 passengers from Hong Kong at around 10:40 am, on January 8, 2023. Photo: Li Hao/GT

China registered more than 70,000 domestic passenger flights during the first week of the 2023 Spring Festival travel rush, known as chunyun, a 40-day period starting from January 7. It reached 80 percent of the pre-pandemic level, data from monitoring platforms showed.

The significant increase of domestic aviation was boosted by rapidly recovering travel demand ahead of the festival, especially for the recovered COVID-19 patients, Xu Xiaolei, marketing manager at China's CYTS Tours, told the Global Times on Sunday. 

According to a statement sent from aviation information provider VariFlight to the Global Times, the flight volume on January 8 surpassed 10,000 for the first time in five months. It rose to more than 11,000 flights on January 14.

The total number of flights for the first week of chunyun was up 12 percent compared with the first week of the 2022 Spring Festival travel rush, and up by 57 percent from 2021. Flights have returned to 80 percent of the pre-pandemic level, VariFlight said.

China Eastern Airlines carried 200,000 people on 2,030 flights on January 12, setting a six-month record. On the next day, 237,600 passengers flew on 2,281 flights, the company told the Global Times on Sunday. 

VariFlight's data showed that international flights during the week surpassed 1,600, up by 90 percent comparing to the same period last year, and 15 percent higher than in 2021.

China Eastern Airlines had nearly 90 outbound flights from Shanghai Pudong International Airport carrying more than 20,000 passengers from January 7 to 13.

The National Immigration Administration said on Saturday that from January 8, when China adjusted COVID-19 response measures, to January 12, a total of 1.35 million residents of the Chinese mainland registered border entry or exit certificates, up 129.4 percent before the new policies were implemented. 

International flights may not recover to pre-pandemic level as soon as domestic flights, Xu said. "But the industry's confidence has been built by a series of policies and the recovery pace has exceeded expectations. We are taking a positive but cautious development strategy in 2023," said Xu. 

China Eastern Airlines has scheduled 43 international routes from January 8 to 31 with 22 new ones, and 400 international flights, up by 220 percent year-on-year. Flights will mainly depart from Shanghai to Southeast Asia, Australia and Europe.

Global Times