China slashes inbound and outbound international flights in drastic action to curtail imported coronavirus cases

From Sunday, Chinese airlines will be allowed to fly just one weekly route to one city per country, operating it at no more than 75 per cent capacity

Beijing also imposes ban on most foreign travellers entering the country

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China has slashed flights to help prevent coronavirus cases being imported into the country. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 10:09pm, 26 Mar 2020Updated: 11:56pm, 31 Mar 2020

China’s aviation regulator has slashed the number of international flights in and out of the country, in a move to curtail air travel and limit the rising number of imported Covid-19 cases.

From Sunday, Chinese airlines will be allowed to fly just one weekly route to one city per country, operating it at no more than 75 per cent capacity, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said.

Similarly, overseas carriers will be limited to one weekly service to China, also at three-quarters capacity, it said.

The statement came before the foreign ministry announced that China would ban the entry of most foreigners starting at midnight on Friday. With few exceptions, including diplomatic visas and visas issued for humanitarian purposes, entry visas issued to foreigners will be suspended as an “interim measure”, according to a statement issued late on Thursday.

The CAAC said: “To resolutely contain the increasing risks of imported Covid-19 cases, and in accordance with the requirements of the State Council for joint prevention and control of the pandemic, [the regulator] has decided to further reduce the number of international passenger flights.”

There might be further reductions to inbound and outbound international flights if the pandemic deteriorated, it said.