(Yicai Global) Aug. 11 -- Nanjing’s international airport has extended the suspension of operations as it plans to undertake a massive reconstruction and renovation. International flights will not be guaranteed for the next three months, Yicai Global learned.

Nanjing Lukou International Airport will further cancel all its cargo and passenger flights amid a large-scale renovation plan of its main facilities to meet the requirements of the prevention and control of the Covid-19 pandemic, Korean carrier Asiana Airlines said yesterday on Weibo while announcing the cancellation of its roundtrip flight from Seoul to Jiangsu’s provincial capital.

The reconstruction will mainly focus on the separation of international and domestic terminals. The previous mixed operations management has been proven to be dangerous amid the higher chances for Covid-19 to spread, Yicai Global learned.

The airport suspended all inbound and outbound flights at the end of last month until today to complete a comprehensive disinfection. Some cleaning workers had been infected with the novel coronavirus as they failed to meet the standards while cleaning the cabin of an Air China flight from Russia on July 10. That was the starting point of the latest Covid-19 outbreak, the Nanjing government said.

As of yesterday, more than 10 provinces reported cases related to the Nanjing outbreak, and Jiangsu alone almost reached 700 cases.

The chairman, general manager and other executives at Eastern Airport Group, firm in charge of the operation of the Nanjing international airport, have been removed from their positions and put under probe for inadequate and ineffective prevention and control of the pandemic.

Several domestic and overseas airliners including Juneyao Air, Deutsche Lufthansa, Asiana Airlines, Vietnam Airlines and Italian airliner Neos are expected to adjust their respective plans about international flights to make way for the Nanjing Lukou International Airport’s reconstruction and renovation, Yicai Global found.

All of the Asiana Airlines 0Z350 flights that travel between Seoul and Nanjing have been unavailable for booking until the end of the year, a Yicai Global’s journalist noticed when browsing South Korean carrier’s website.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Futura Costaglione