Fasten your seat belts, but wait a while

At a news conference on Wednesday, Xu Hejian, spokesman for the Beijing municipal government, said Beijing will resume direct flights to and from eight countries－Thailand, Cambodia, Greece, Denmark, Pakistan, Sweden, Austria and Canada－and the passengers should either be citizens of those countries or Chinese people returning from those countries.

The announcement marks the partial resumption of direct flights between Beijing and other cities half a year after they were suspended following the COVID-19 outbreak.

On March 23, the Civil Aviation Administration, the National Health Commission and the General Administration of Customs jointly announced that all international passenger flights to Beijing will be diverted to designated first-entry points and passengers quarantined.

The resumption of direct international flights to and from Beijing shows that China has made considerable progress in the prevention and control of the pandemic and is taking another step toward a return to normalcy after fully assessing the risks of imported infection cases.

Being the capital, Beijing is an important window for China's exchanges with the outside world and is often the first stop for many foreigners coming to China or Chinese citizens returning home.

In 2019, Beijing Capital International Airport ranked the second busiest airport in the world for the ninth consecutive year, testifying to Beijing's status as an international aviation hub.

The gradual resumption of direct international flights will increase convenience for overseas Chinese students, Chinese citizens who need to visit relatives back home, and international businesspeople.

The resumption of some direct international flights is also of strong symbolic significance.

As the capital of the world's second largest economy and the largest trading partner of more than 120 countries and regions, whether Beijing can resume direct international flights is an important indicator of whether China has made important achievements in pandemic prevention and control and whether China's social and economic activities have returned to normal.

Therefore, the international flights to and from Beijing will also extend to people more stable expectations and enhance their confidence about overcoming the epidemic and living normal lives.

Of course, the pandemic is still raging in many countries and there is a risk of outbreaks from imported cases, yet people from all walks of life have great expectations from Beijing's resumption of direct international flights.

However, the speed of resumption depends not only on how China but also how the rest of the world deals with the pandemic. Only after the pandemic is effectively controlled worldwide can direct international flights return to the pre-pandemic level. It means that China and other countries still need to work together to overcome the pandemic.