Japan's two largest airlines – Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways—each said on Thursday they planned to increase flights to China as restrictions begin to ease and borders reopen throughout Asia. Starting next Wednesday, ANA will resume two mainland China routes, Qingdao and Guangzhou, while JAL adds Guangzhou to its destinations from October 2. Passengers traveling from Japan to China must present a Covid-19 RT-PCR negative swab test certificate, taken within three days of departure.
The announcement comes as both countries lay plans to maintain control of the virus prior to their respective Olympic Games. Originally scheduled for July, Japan moved to postpone the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics and Paralympics in March to 2021 over pandemic concerns while Beijing prepares to host the Winter Olympics in 2022. According to Japanese news sources, Japan wants to reopen business travel from all countries starting next month, although it plans initially to cap inbound traffic at 1000 passengers per day.
More In Airlines
