(Yicai Global) Feb. 25 -- With the increase in the number of diagnosed novel coronavirus cases in South Korea, tourists have found flight tickets from Seoul to Qingdao and other Chinese cities in the next few days hard to come by. The Civil Aviation Administration of China said it is closely monitoring development of the international epidemic as well as prevention and control risks.

Yicai Global found that the lowest economy class price for a non-stop flight from Seoul to Shanghai by Spring Airlines on Feb. 27 was CNY2,067 (USD294.60). That once cost less than CNY1,000. All other flights are connecting flights, with prices going as high as CNY3,000.

China Eastern Airlines' two daily flights from Seoul to Shanghai are sold out until March 3. No tickets are available for non-stop Seoul to Shanghai flights before Feb. 27.

China Eastern is concerned about the situation and has deployed systematic protection measures, including handing over passenger information to the airport, boarding checks, in-flight protection, crew protection, and aircraft disinfection, Yicai Global learned.

The top six most likely Chinese destinations for South Korean passengers between Feb. 23 and 25 were Taipei, Hong Kong, Beijing, Qingdao, Gaoxiong and Shanghai, according to data on the aviation information platform Variflight.

"In response to the risk, what we can do is to do a good job on prevention and control before and during the flight, but after passengers land, prevention and control depends on local governments," a manager of a Chinese airline told Yicai Global, suggesting the government should issue epidemic prevention and control measures especially for people coming from places overseas with severe novel coronavirus outbreaks.

Chinese cities have generally taken a more relaxed and varied approach on epidemic prevention and control when it comes to foreign arrivals. Beijing issued a notice on Feb. 21 saying that passengers who arrive in China through Beijing Capital International Airport and Beijing Daxing International Airport and have not stayed in China over the past 14 days, will be exempt from a 14-day quarantine.

But the Qingdao government in east China announced that from yesterday, all arrivals with residence in the country must be put in 14-day home quarantine while business travelers and people coming for a short stay will be sent to designated hotels.

Editor: Peter Thomas