China’s international air travel recovery: part one – rolling back restrictions

The recovery in air travel to and from China is picking up pace in the early months of 2023 as more COVID-19-related restrictions are eased and airlines respond by ramping up services in this market.

The Chinese government raised hopes for reopening international travel in Dec-2022 when it announced its intention to remove a range of entry restrictions. However, there were still specific steps required to implement the changes for many categories of international travellers.

More hurdles emerged in Jan-2023, when several other countries imposed new entry requirements on travellers from China due to concerns about an uptick in COVID-19 infections. This prompted severe criticism from Chinese authorities.

There has been further progress in these areas over the past month. Many of the overseas governments have now removed their restrictions on travel from China. And the Chinese government itself has taken some of the additional steps needed to fulfil its reopening goals.

Airlines are announcing schedule changes to increase their Chinese capacity, and this trend will likely increase in the coming months.