Breaking News! Direct International Flights to be Resumed!

By China Jobs Daily

Breaking news! Beijing gradually restores direct international passenger flights, with the latest anti-epidemic measures unveiled.-- National Immigration Administration

As of September 3, Beijing’s international passenger flights diverted via the first point of entry will be gradually restored as direct flights. 9 flight routes from 8 countries with fewer imported cases of Thailand, Cambodia, Pakistan, Greece, Denmark, Austria, Sweden and Canada to Beijing will first be restored. Meanwhile, Beijing will subject all people entering China to a 14-day centralized observation and two nucleic acid tests.

CAAC: 9 flight routes will first be restored as of September 3

According to the latest news released on the website of the Civil Aviation Administration of China on September 2: according to the arrangements made by the State Council’s joint prevention and control mechanism, in order to ensure steady, orderly operation of international passenger flights amid the current attempts at COVID-19 containment, Beijing will play the role of an international aviation hub, increase the passenger and cargo transport efficiency of international aviation and facilitate international travels and itineraries of passengers. The CAAC will gradually restore the direct routes of Beijing’s international passenger flights diverted via the first point of entry as from September 3 according to the epidemic containment requirements which are intended for “prevention of imported cases from abroad and prevention of rebound at home”, while strictly taking containment measures and strictly preventing imported risks.

To strictly control the risk of epidemic import to Beijing, as of March 23, all international passenger flights entering Beijing will be diverted to the designated first point of entry, but passengers subjected to quarantine and found eligible may enter Beijing by the original flights.

As of September 1, 511 international passenger flights have been diverted to the first point of entry. Along with the COVID-19 containment efforts becoming regular, the aforesaid diverted international passenger flights will gradually restore direct flight to Beijing.

As from September 3, 9 flight routes from 8 countries with fewer imported cases of Thailand, Cambodia, Pakistan, Greece, Denmark, Austria, Sweden and Canada to Beijing will first be restored. The first flight after resumption is the Air China flight from Phnom Penh of Cambodia to Beijing on September 3.

To further ensure proper COVID-19 containment after resumption of flights, CAAC will take more strict containment measures for all direct international passenger flights to Beijing while strictly carrying out the flight suspension policy:

First, immediately take the suspension measures where the actual imported cases of individual flight operation reach the suspension criteria, and restore the policy of entry via the designated first point of entry upon the end of suspension period;

Second, the point of entry will be immediately restored by Beijing as the designated first point of entry where the actual imported cases of individual flight operation exceeds 3;

Third, strictly control the passenger load factor of direct international flights to Beijing and control the scale of passengers entering China via Beijing airports each day;

Fourth, carry out strict closed-loop management of such inbound passengers while strictly conducting far-end nucleic acid tests on passengers and containment measures at airports, so as to prevent the imported risk to the maximum extent.

As the next step, CAAC will, according to the arrangements made by the State Council’s joint prevention and control mechanism and based on Beijing’s COVID-19 containment requirements and receiving capacity, make comprehensive assessment of the risk of epidemic importation, comprehensive support, air route and flight arrangements, passenger needs, and overall arrangements for resumption of other direct international passenger flights to Beijing that are diverted via the first point of entry, in light of the efficacy of far-end nucleic acid tests by related countries.

Beijing: subject inbound passengers to a 14-day centralized observation

On September 2, Beijing held a press conference on COVID-19 containment efforts, here Tian Tao, a member of the community prevention and control team office of Beijing COVID-19 Containment Leadership Group, said inbound passengers will be subjected to a 14-day centralized observation in principle, as well as two nucleic acid tests.

Firstly, inbound passengers entering Beijing and domiciled in Beijing are required to report their personal condition, residential address, flight information, and itinerary schedule to their communities (villages) and understand the policies related to centralized observation in advance by consulting the citizen hotline 12345 in case of any doubts.

Secondly, the points of centralized observation for entrants consist mostly of hostels, hotels, and training centers and are well equipped. We strictly implement the “Technical Guidelines for Setup Standards and Management Techniques for Centralized Isolation and Observation Points (4th Edition)” to ensure compliance with the hygienic standards and specialized technical requirements. Apart from married couples, children, and other people indeed in need of care, inbound passengers will stay at the centralized observation points on the basis of one room per person.

Thirdly, to ensure the security and safety of centralized observation points, we have established inspection teams and visiting expert teams to conduct itinerant supervision and inspection of important points and key processes such as hygiene, fire protection and catering services.

Fourthly, special work teams have been established in all districts accommodating the centralized observation points for entrants, staffed with service support personnel responsible for day-to-day management and health monitoring of the centralized observation points. Necessary foreign-language volunteer services, counseling and other related services are available to entrants as needed. Entrants are required to comply with onsite management, refrain from visiting others or gathering, “stay in their rooms”, cooperate with staff on information registration, have their body temperatures measured and report health conditions as required and proactively report any abnormal symptoms and physical illness during the period of centralized observation.

Fifth, upon the expiration of the centralized observation period, entrants will be subjected to nucleic acid tests in a centralized manner, and certificate of negative results of nucleic acid test and certificate of release from centralized observation will be issued to those whose test results have come back negative. For those entrants returning to their communities (villages) in Beijing, to ensure the safety of themselves and community residents, they are required to further undergo 7-day health monitoring, continue measuring their body temperatures themselves, report any abnormal symptoms to communities (villages) and seek medical attention in a timely manner. Those entrants staying in hostels and hotels are required to provide certificate of negative results of nucleic acid test and certificate of release from centralized observation, file their causes of entry into Beijing, register their contacts in Beijing and subject themselves to health management in hotels. Non-local entrants may purchase tickets and leave Beijing upon expiration of the centralized observation period if they have no abnormal condition.