China is to restrict the passenger load of high-risk flights from overseas to 75 percent as air travel continues to pose the biggest entry point for imported cases of Covid-19, the Civil Aviation Administration of China said today.
There are three different high-risk categories, the CAAC said. The first is based on the disease prevalence in the country of origin, the flight load factor and the length of the flight.
The second refers to flights on a single airline on the same route with more than five passengers who test positive for Covid-19 on entering China in three consecutive weeks.
The third refers to carriers that have resumed operation after being suspended in a ‘circuit breaker’ order for a week should they have more than five imported cases on a single flight.
Passengers board a Hainan Airlines airplane at Haikou Meilan International Airport in the capital city of Hainan province
The CAAC will lift the cap for those flights in the second and third categories if no incoming passengers test positive for the novel coronavirus for three weeks.
The CAAC has issued 31 circuit breakers and cancelled 52 inbound flights so far.