On December 28, 2022, the Civil Aviation Administration of China issued a Notice on the Work Plan for Resuming International Passenger Flights.

According to the circular, from January 8, 2023, international passenger flights will no longer be controlled by "five-one" and "one-country, one-policy" measures, and Chinese and foreign airlines will operate scheduled passenger flights according to bilateral transport agreements.

Applications for international passenger charter flights from Chinese and foreign airlines will be gradually resumed, and the 75 percent load factor limit on inbound flights will be lifted.

The specific notice is as follows:

Notice on the Work Programme for the resumption of international passenger flights

Regional civil aviation administrations, transport airlines, and transport airports:

According to the Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism Comprehensive Group of The State Council on the Novel Coronavirus Infection "Notice on Issuing the Overall Plan for the Implementation of Class B and B Management of Novel Coronavirus Infection" (Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism Comprehensive Situation [2022] No. 144) and the Foreign Affairs team of the Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism of The State Council issued the Notice on the Interim Measures for Personnel exchanges between China and Foreign countries

And now formulate a work plan for resuming international passenger flights, which will take effect on January 8, 2023.

The relevant notice is as follows:

First, the General Principle

In order to meet the needs of international personnel exchanges and foreign economic and trade exchanges, China will prudently promote the resumption of international passenger flights in accordance with the principles of safety first, market leadership and security.

Ii. Specific measures

1. Control measures such as "five-one" and "one-country, one-policy" will no longer be implemented on international passenger flights, and Chinese and foreign airlines will operate scheduled passenger flights in accordance with bilateral transport agreements.

2. Gradually resume accepting applications for international passenger charter flights from Chinese and foreign airlines, and fully return to pre-epidemic procedures and requirements in the summer and autumn of 2023;

Applications for inbound business aircraft will be resumed in accordance with pre-epidemic procedures.

3. Optimize the security process of inbound flights at ports and airports, improve operation efficiency, cancel the prevention and control requirements of "four designated, four fixed and two concentrated", fully release security resources, and improve the security capability of receiving international flights.

If the port airport is unable to meet the airline company's demand for additional shifts in a short time due to the shortage of personnel, facilities and other support resources, it shall make a timely announcement, specify the resumption time, and explain the work to the outside world.

The Civil Aviation Administration guided domestic and foreign airlines to strengthen communication with relevant ports and airports in advance and rationally arrange transport capacity.

4. Inbound high-risk flights will no longer be defined, and the 75% load factor limit for inbound flights will be lifted.

5. The cancellation of inbound flights involves measures such as entry security personnel at the airport, closed-loop management of domestic and international flight crews, nucleic acid testing and entry isolation, requiring employees to do a good job in personal protection and health monitoring, requiring flight staff to wear masks and disinfect their hands, doing a good job in disinfection of cabin lavatories, strengthening publicity and guidance, and supervising passengers to wear masks.

6. Strengthen safety supervision over the operation of international passenger airlines by Chinese and foreign airlines, and consolidate the bottom line of safety.

7. Strengthen price management of international air transport, in accordance with bilateral air transport agreements and relevant national price laws and regulations, strengthen supervision and inspection of unfair competition in international air transport prices in conjunction with market supervision authorities, maintain normal price order in the air transport market, and protect the legitimate rights and interests of consumers and operators.

Iii. Implementation of arrangements

The Civil Aviation Administration takes the lead in promoting the resumption of international passenger flights, detailing and announcing specific measures, communicating with competent civil aviation authorities of foreign countries, coordinating and coordinating all units in the industry to ensure operation safety, epidemic prevention and control and production organization, and strengthening coordination with relevant departments and local governments to ensure a safe and stable resumption of international passenger flights.

Civil Aviation Administration of China

December 28, 2022