Airlines add intl flights, resume other routes

Air China, the national flag carrier, will launch or resume four international routes in the next few months to better serve the Belt and Road Initiative and promote opening-up, the company said on Tuesday.

The new routes are Beijing-Riyadh and Beijing-Dhaka, while two others, Beijing-Madrid-Sao Paulo and Beijing-Madrid-Havana, will resume.

Air China said capacity on international and regional routes during the summer and autumn season, which began on March 30, has returned to 84 percent of the level in 2019 — before the COVID-19 pandemic struck — with capacity on European routes exceeding 110 percent of the 2019 level.

The four routes being added will take Air China's tally of domestic, international and regional routes to 452, including 112 international and regional routes. The route network covers 64 cities in 43 countries and regions.

The Beijing-Madrid-Sao Paulo route, which will resume on Sunday, spans three continents and is one of the world's longest, while the Beijing-Madrid-Havana route, which will resume on May 17, is the only route between China and Cuba.

The new Beijing-Riyadh route will begin on May 6, while the Beijing-Dhaka route is scheduled to open in June.

China Southern Airlines, another major airline company in China, is also introducing new international routes.

On Monday, the airline launched a route from Guangzhou to Doha, offering four round-trip flights a week. On Wednesday, the Guangzhou-Shenyang-Frankfurt route will be inaugurated, providing one round-trip flight per week.

In the new flight season, China Southern Airlines has increased flight frequencies on routes from Guangzhou to Moscow, Amsterdam, Istanbul, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Tokyo and Osaka, and will continue to increase frequencies on routes from Guangzhou to Dubai, Nha Trang and Manila.

The Civil Aviation Administration of China said the new flight season, which runs through Oct 26, will see over 12,600 weekly international passenger flights operated by 122 Chinese and international airlines. They will link China to 66 countries, representing a significant increase from previous periods.

The administration said it will guide all airlines to continue increasing capacity and add more flight routes between China and countries involved in the BRI to meet travelers' needs and serve national strategies.