Air transport: China eases sanctions in the event of Covid detection on flights


If 5 positive cases are detected on a flight, an airline will only be suspended for one week and two, in the event of 10 positive cases.

China announced on Sunday that it is easing penalties against airlines when Covid cases are detected on one of their flights, after already reducing quarantine times for travelers arriving from abroad. From now on, when five positive cases are detected on a flight, the company will only be suspended for one week from this air link, against two previously, said the Civil Aviation Administration (CAAC) in a press release. If ten cases are detected, the link will be suspended for two weeks, compared to four previously.

Only a handful of flights still connect China to the rest of the world, but they are often at prohibitive prices and are regularly canceled when passengers test positive. China is the only major economy that continues to apply a zero Covid strategy, imposing lockdowns and long quarantines that penalize local tourism.

The country’s borders have been almost completely closed since the beginning of 2020, preventing the entry of foreign visitors. But, a sign of some relaxation, China decided at the end of June to halve the duration of the mandatory quarantine for travelers arriving in the country: it fell to 10 days, against 21 previously.



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