Song Zhiyong, director of the Civil Aviation Administration of China, revealed at the 2024 National Civil Aviation Work Conference held on January 4 that the number of countries where international passenger flights have resumed has reached 89.2% of the pre-epidemic level.
He mentioned that in 2023, after seven phases of steady recovery, the passenger scale of domestic routes has exceeded the pre-epidemic level, an increase of 1.5% over 2019, and the fastest recovery rate among all modes of transportation.
In 2023, international passenger flights will resume to more than 4,600 flights per week, and the number of countries resuming flights will reach 89.2% of the pre-pandemic level. China-Europe passenger traffic has recovered to more than 60% of the pre-epidemic level, and the regular direct flights between China and the United States have increased to 63 flights per week, and the recovery level between China and the Belt and Road countries is 6.2 percentage points higher than the overall level of international routes, which has effectively promoted international personnel exchanges and served the overall situation of national diplomacy.
He said that this year's civil aviation will implement the results of the China-US summit and promote a substantial increase in direct flights between China and the United States; actively expand the air traffic rights arrangements with the "Belt and Road" countries, and deepen project cooperation with Central Asia, the Middle East, Africa and other regions; improve the efficiency of the use of existing third and fourth air traffic rights resources, support airlines to make good use of the fifth overseas air traffic rights according to the needs of route network expansion; promote the optimization of visa and entry and exit policies, improve the level of customs clearance facilitation, and improve the efficiency of international flight entry and exit.
However, there is still no new news about the increase in flights on the China-Canada route that Chinese Canadians are looking forward to.
Compared with the "gradual recovery" of Sino-US flights, China-Canada flights are indeed a bit miserable. Before the epidemic, there were more than 110 weekly flights between China and Canada (76 flights in China and 35 flights in Canada), including Vancouver, Toronto, Calgary and Montreal, and Chinese mainland flights in addition to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Xiamen and Chengdu, Qingdao, Nanjing, Shenyang and Zhengzhou.
After the start of the pandemic, the number of flights dropped sharply to six round-trip flights per week. Later, with the adjustment of the policy several times, the current China-Canada route only resumes 10 flights per week, including 6 flights from the Chinese side and 4 flights from the Canadian side.
- Air Canada: Vancouver = Shanghai, four times a week
- Air China: Vancouver = Beijing (via Shenyang), once a week
- Hainan Airlines: Vancouver = Shenzhen, one flight per week
- Sichuan Airlines: Vancouver = Chengdu, one flight per week
- Xiamen Airlines: Vancouver = Xiamen, one flight per week
- China Eastern Airlines: Toronto=Shanghai, one flight per week
- China Southern Airlines: Toronto=Guangzhou, one flight per week
On October 1 last year, Chinese Ambassador to Canada Cong Peiwu attended the "Celebration of the 53rd Anniversary of the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between China and Canada" Gala held by the local Chinese community in Ottawa, saying that the Chinese Embassy in Canada will continue to promote the increase of flights between China and Canada to facilitate the reunion of everyone back to their ancestral (home) country.