Strengthening Measures to Block COVID-19 Reverse Inflow Leads to Shrinkage of International Flights to Beijing (Comprehensive)

Korean Air to Suspend Flights to Beijing for One Month Starting March 28

[Asia Economy Beijing=Special Correspondent Park Sun-mi] Korean Air has decided to temporarily suspend operations on the Incheon-Beijing route from March 28 to April 25, amid expectations that international flights to Beijing will be further reduced due to China's strengthened measures to block the reverse inflow of COVID-19.

On the 23rd, Korean Air announced that, following China's implementation of a measure requiring all international flights arriving in Beijing to first land at nearby city airports for quarantine and prevention procedures starting that day, it will temporarily suspend operations on the Incheon-Beijing route from March 28 to April 25.

Korean Air's flights to Beijing will operate normally only on the 23rd, 25th, and 27th. According to the "Notice No. 2 on Priority Landing Sites for International Flights Bound for Beijing," these flights will first land in Qingdao before arriving in Beijing, where special quarantine procedures for passengers will be conducted on-site. The expected waiting time in Qingdao for quarantine is approximately seven hours.

Asiana Airlines is also reportedly planning to finalize its decision soon regarding flights to Beijing on the 26th and 28th. Asiana's Beijing-bound flights have been assigned Dalian as the priority landing site. An industry insider said, "Asiana Airlines is expected to make a decision soon. Although no final decision has been made, the industry believes they are leaning towards not operating the flights," adding, "The atmosphere is similar among other foreign airlines." It is known that airlines such as Emirates and Singapore Airlines have already canceled their Beijing routes and are adjusting their schedules accordingly.

China has implemented a measure starting today requiring all international flights arriving in Beijing to first land at nearby city airports for quarantine and prevention procedures to block the reverse inflow of COVID-19.

According to "Notice No. 2 on Priority Landing Sites for International Flights Bound for Beijing," from 0:00 on this day, all international flights to Beijing must first land at nearby airports to undergo temperature checks, immigration procedures, luggage disinfection, and other quarantine measures. Only passengers who meet the re-boarding conditions can board the same flight again to proceed to Beijing. The priority landing airports include 12 airports: Tianjin, Shijiazhuang, Taiyuan, Hohhot, Shanghai Pudong Airport, Jinan, Qingdao, Nanjing, Shenyang, Dalian, Zhengzhou, and Xi'an.

As China strengthens its measures to block the reverse inflow of COVID-19, international flights to and from China have already been significantly reduced. An aviation industry official explained, "Until last week, 92% of China routes were cut. Weekly flight frequencies dropped from 1,204 to 100. Among the 85 Korea-China routes, 64 routes, accounting for 75%, have been suspended." He added, "Chinese aviation authorities have stated that they will only reduce flights for the time being to prevent COVID-19, without mentioning the possibility of increasing flights," leaving open the possibility that this situation may continue for some time.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.