Coronavirus: first post-lockdown flight from Europe lands in China
- Charter flight from Frankfurt in Germany was carrying about 200 workers and their families
- Two months after closing its borders, China is beginning to lift restrictions on foreigners
China drastically cut international flight routes in late March and imposed an entry ban on most foreigners – including those with valid residence visas.
The move underlined its fears over imported coronavirus cases and a second wave of infections as the virus epicentre shifted beyond China, where the deadly pathogen was first reported late last year.
Many workers found themselves stranded abroad and unable to return after leaving China at the height of the epidemic.
Lufthansa’s flight from Frankfurt landed soon before noon at Tianjin airport, southeast of Beijing, the German carrier said.
The group, made up of employees of German companies and their families, were tested for Covid-19 after they landed and will have to quarantine for two weeks.