Inbound international flights to China are operating at a fraction of comparable 2020 numbers and don’t look like recovering any time soon. If anything, capacity may further tighten. Among many industries, the aviation industry is a casualty of China’s zero-COVID policy.
While most of the world wrestles with learning to live with COVID, China maintains a zero-COVID stance, attempting to crush the virus wherever it appears. Anyang, with a population of about five and a half million people, Xi’an, home to around 13 million people, and Yuzhou, where over one million people live, are all experiencing extremely tough lockdowns.
No Olympics financial sugar hit for the aviation industry
China closed its international borders to nearly all foreigners in March 2020, shutting down the inbound tourism and business markets. China has not relaxed that policy since. If anything, they’ve become tougher on who they grant the few visas they grant to. That’s having a big impact on the aviation industry.
Beijing is set to host the Winter Olympics in February. Normally, the Olympics offers a guaranteed boost in passengers numbers for airlines flying into the host city. But Beijing is not inviting non-residents, which neutralizes any airline’s chances of a quick financial sugar rush from the games.
According to Bloomberg, across January 8 – 15, 2020, China welcomed around 10,000 international flights. This week, the country will see about 500 international flights land, and capacity cuts are intensifying.
Beijing penalizes airlines
China appears hell-bent on hosting the Olympics next month, and if that means tightening movement and travel restrictions to curb the threat of COVID, so be it. Airlines are being penalized for flying in passengers who later test positive to COVID.
Those penalties…