Planes arriving in the south of the country from Canada to the city of Guangcou in the morning, from Singapore to the city of Xinjiang and from New Zealand to Shanghai were the first flights to China after the lifting of the measures. Guangcou Baiyun International Airport reportedly expects more than 2,000 passengers from Doha, Dubai, Jakarta, New York, Seoul and other cities during the day.
FIRST PLANE FROM NEW ZEALAND
While the Kovid-19 control and isolation points were removed at the international terminal of Shanghai Pudong Airport, the passengers of the first flight from New Zealand met with their relatives waiting at the terminal without any control measures.
Pudong, which was the busiest airport in China in the last 20 years, served 39 million passengers a year in 2019 before the epidemic, while this number decreased to 1.64 million in 2022 due to quarantine measures and flight restrictions.
While it was reported that Beijing is waiting for 18 international flights to the Capital International Airport today, the Civil Aviation Administration of China announced that flights diverted to other cities from the airport, which was closed to international flights during the epidemic period, can now land in the capital again.
CHINA-HONG KONG BORDER OPENED
On the other hand, after the removal of epidemic control measures between mainland China and Hong Kong, land, sea and air transportation started. Ticket bookings for flights from Hong Kong to China rose 62 percent.
As travel applications have started to be accepted at the customs gates between Hong Kong and the mainland city of Xinjiang, crossings were observed to be infrequent. It was reported that 1600 passengers passed through the Futien customs gate and 200 passengers passed through the Vincindu border gate.
While it was shared that 300,000 travel applications have been made to China so far in Hong Kong, it has been noted that travel will be limited to 60 thousand people per day.
It has been reported that the customs gates on the Ruili border on the Myanmar border and Suifınhi border on the Russian border, which were quarantined for a long time due to cross-border cases during the Kovid-19 epidemic, returned to their normal course.
On December 26, 2022, the National Health Commission announced that Kovid-19 would cease to be considered as a “category A epidemic disease” as of January 8, and the restrictions imposed under the Border Health and Quarantine Act would be lifted.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that with the new application, passengers coming from abroad will not have to obtain a health code from China’s embassies and consulates before travel, and they will not be kept in central quarantine even if they are positive on arrival.
The Civil Aviation Administration also announced that the restrictions on the number of flights and passengers on international flights due to the epidemic will be ended.
After the start of the Kovid-19 epidemic, China canceled all visas in March 2022, closed its borders to the world and limited flights. (AA)