(Yicai Global) Nov. 12 -- The cost of an international flight to and from China fell about 18 percent this month after the country eased Covid-19 restrictions for overseas arrivals.

The average airfare fell to about CNY8,783 (USD1,240) in November from a month earlier, according to data from Umetrip.com.cn. Over the past two years, return tickets to China have cost tens of thousands of Chinese yuan (thousands to tens of thousands of US dollars).

China scrapped the ‘circuit breaker’ for inbound flights, which had obliged airlines to suspend routes if passengers were found to have the coronavirus, and cut the quarantine period for arrivals by two days, a cabinet circular said on Nov. 11. Moreover, only one PCR test within 48 hours is now required before boarding, instead of two.

Some Chinese embassies, including those in Singapore, Canada, and the United States, released statements yesterday to inform Chinese citizens abroad about the new rules. They also noted that transit passengers can now take PCR tests at the point of origin or transit. The previous policy had prevented some cities such as Singapore, Tokyo, and Seoul from acting as transit hubs.

The new measures show that China’s coronavirus regulations are increasingly precise, Lin Zhijie, a civil aviation industry insider, told Yicai Global. They are conducive to international business exchanges and also play a positive role in lifting passenger flows on international routes, thereby shrinking airline losses, he added.

Since the second half of this year, the number of international flights has increased significantly. The figure for the new season, which started on Oct. 30, more than doubled from a year earlier.

Editor: Futura Costaglione