China's aviation regulator will slightly relax suspension rules on international flights due to COVID-19 as it seeks to facilitate more flexible capacity arrangement for airlines, it said on Wednesday.
Airlines can now choose to cap the load factor on a flight, or percentage of seats filled, to no more than 40% for four weeks if more than five but less than 10 passengers on a previous flight test positive for COVID-19 after arriving in China, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said in a statement.
Previously, such flights would have to be suspended for two weeks. The new rules would be effective since May 1, CAAC added.
"The move is to better meet the needs of normalisation of China's epidemic prevention and control efforts, and to facilitate capacity arrangements by airlines and travel plans by passengers on the basis of equal control measures on imported (COVID) risks," the CAAC said.
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