Urumqi Resumes Outbound Flights as Infections Fall to Zero

What’s New: Urumqi airport gradually resumed flights allowing residents to travel out of the city after the capital of Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region reported zero new Covid-19 cases for six straight days.

Caixin learned that flights from Urumqi to major cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Xi’an and Zhengzhou have resumed, but the number of daily flights is still capped.

The Background: Urumqi imposed a lockdown July 17 after dozens of Covid-19 cases were reported in the city. The number of flights in and out Urumqi was dramatically slashed from more than 200 a day to a few dozen. During the first two weeks of August, flights in and out the Urumqi airport were around 10 daily.

Travel restrictions have been gradually eased since mid-August. Several airlines including China Southern Airlines and Urumqi Air said they added flights from Urumqi to other major Chinese cities over the past few days, but some flights were later canceled due to lack of passengers. Travelers leaving the city are still subject to certain requirements such as coronavirus nucleic acid test results.

Quick Takes are condensed versions of China-related stories for fast news you can use. To read the full story in Chinese, click here.

Related: In ‘Wartime’ Lockdown, Xinjiang’s Capital to Test 3.5 Million Residents for Covid-19

Contact reporter Han Wei (weihan@caixin.com) and editor Bob Simison (bobsimison@caixin.com)

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