June 4, 2020
To All Transport Airlines：
To continue our efforts in epidemic prevention and control and facilitate international personnel exchanges, Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), as required by the Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism of the State Council, decides to make adjustments to the number of international passenger flights, based on the Frontier Health and Quarantine Law of the People’s Republic of China, the Emergency Response Law of the People’s Republic of China, the Civil Aviation Law of the People’s Republic of China and other relevant regulations. The following are the detailed adjustments:
1. Chinese and foreign airlines that already had their flight plans included in the Information on International Flight Plans (Phase Five) (hereinafter referred to as “Phase Five”) issued by CAAC on its official website on March 12 could continue to operate international passenger flights to/from China with their flight plans in Phase Five as the baseline and in accordance with the following principles: each Chinese airline could maintain just one weekly scheduled passenger flight on one route to any specific country; each foreign airline could maintain just one weekly scheduled passenger flight on one route to China. Airlines operating such flights can make adjustments to their domestic and overseas points based on their operating permits.
2. Starting from June 8, 2020, all foreign airlines that are not included in CAAC’s Phase Five flight plans could choose one city with airport(s) capable of accommodating international passenger flights (refer to the official website of CAAC for the list of cities) based on their operating permits, and operate one weekly international passenger flight.
3. The route operating permits and slots for the flights whose frequencies are reduced by airlines due to the epidemic will be retained.
4. Airlines are requested to submit their application for Pre-Flight plans of flights till October 24, 2020 to Operation Supervisory Center of CAAC, in accordance with the requirements above.
5. Airlines shall put in place prevention and control measures in accordance with the Preventing Spread of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Guideline for Airlines issued by CAAC, and implement the requirements contained in the Public Announcement of CAAC and GACC – Requirements for Overseas Chinese Passengers to Fill in and Report Health Information for Epidemic Prevention before Returning Back Home by Air.
6. In a bid to avoid over concentration at the point(s) of entry and ensure that the cities above are capable of providing all-round support for the incoming international flights and passengers, airlines, prior to making arrangements for additional flights, should obtain a Confirmation Letter on the Capacity to Provide Support during the Epidemic Prevention and Control Period (see the Annex for template) issued by the provincial Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism or the provincial leading group on epidemic response.
7. Starting from June 8, 2020, incentives and circuit breaker measures for flights will be implemented.
7.1 CAAC, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, National Health Commission, GACC, and National Immigration Administration, jointly established a leading group mechanism to implement incentives and circuit breaker measures for flights based on the results of nucleic acid tests for inbound flight passengers after their arrival.
7.2 Incentives. If no arriving passenger flying on the same flight and same route operated by an airline is found positive in his/her nucleic acid test after arrival for three consecutive weeks, the airline could add one weekly flight by referring to the weekly number of flights allowed in the route operating permit, and shall cap their weekly flights at two.
7.3 Circuit breaker measures. If 5 to 9 arriving passengers flying the same flight and same route operated by an airline are found positive in their nucleic acid tests after arrival, the airline’s operation on that specific route shall be suspended for 1 week; if 10 or over 10 passengers test positive after arrival, the airline’s operation on the route shall be suspended for 4 weeks. No adjustment is allowed to be made to the quota of the flight involved in a “circuit breaker” to transfer it to other routes. After the end of the “circuit breaker” period, the airline could resume its one weekly flight schedule.
8. Provided that the risk is controllable and the city concerned has the capacity to accept and provide service to additional flights, some eligible countries could moderately increase the number of flights.
9. This Notice shall enter into force as of the date of issuance, and the Notice on Further Reducing International Passenger Flights during the Epidemic Prevention and Control Period issued by CAAC on March 26, 2020 shall automatically become invalid.
Civil Aviation Administration of China
Source: http://www.caac.gov.cn/en/XWZX/202006/t20200604_202949.html
