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Daily flights nearly back to normal
From:Shanghai Daily  |  2021-03-29 07:29

The number of daily flights at Shanghai’s Pudong and Hongqiao airports will be restored to the level before the coronavirus outbreak during the summer-autumn aviation season starting yesterday.

Pudong International Airport had handled the largest number of international passengers among domestic airports. It was also among the most severely hit by COVID-19, after most international flights were suspended to curb the spread of the virus.

As the pandemic wanes on the mainland and demand for domestic travel rises, Pudong airport will operate over 1,500 daily flights during the new aviation season through the end of October, the same as that of 2019.

“The operation at Pudong airport has been restored rapidly mainly thanks to the fast recovery of the Chinese economy,” the Shanghai Airport Authority said over the weekend.

“The airport, airlines and China’s civil aviation industry have also been working out new strategies together to cope with the pandemic.”

The airport and airlines have allocated a large number of flight schedules of international flights to meet rising domestic demand.

The ground facilities such as the bridges, aircraft stands and security channels have also been shifted to serve more domestic flights and travelers.

Meanwhile, major operators at the airport such as China Eastern, Spring Air and Juneyao have released a handful of “fly free” packages that have no limit on the frequency, date or route. The ticket packages have greatly boosted domestic travel demand, especially during the National Day holiday and summer vacation in 2020.

Peng Guoxing, one of the first batch of buyers of China Eastern’s fly free package, said the effective prevention and control measures on the mainland made him confident to fly more frequently. “The package allows me to take care of both my business and family,” said Peng, who owns a popular restaurant chain.

Operations at the airport were hit again in late 2020 when multiple domestic COVID-19 cases popped up in Shanghai and several other Chinese cities. But the market recovered by the end of February when the epidemic was brought under control again.

As of late March, Pudong International Airport was handling 110,000 domestic travelers every day, a 114 percent increase to that of 2019. About 900 domestic flights take off and land at the airport every day, a jump of 124 percent on year.

Meanwhile, Hongqiao International Airport, which has shifted all its international flights to Pudong, will operate 761 daily flights during the new aviation season, a 1.1 percent increase on year.

It will further increase the number of popular business routes to Beijing, Shenzhen and Guangzhou to 14 flights a day to make the airport a hub for express flights to other domestic air hubs. The airport will be connected with 78 domestic destinations during the new aviation season, the same as that of 2019.

Nationwide, the summer-autumn aviation season will likely see 92,756 domestic flights per week, up by 10.7 percent from the same season in 2020, the Civil Aviation Administration of China said.

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