International flights diverted from Shanghai

Some international flights scheduled to arrive in Shanghai will be redirected to other airports across the country due to a surge in COVID-19 cases in the city.

"To ease Shanghai's epidemic control pressure, 106 international flights, carried out by five domestic airlines, including Air China and China Eastern Airlines, will be redirected to land at 12 other Chinese cities," Xu Qing, deputy director of the Civil Aviation Administration of China's transportation department, told an online news conference on Tuesday.

The changes will be in effect from March 21 to May 1. All the flights, involving 22 routes, were scheduled to land at Shanghai Pudong International Airport. They will now land in 12 other cities, including Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, Dalian in Liaoning province, Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang province, and Chongqing.

Shanghai is one of China's busiest international transport hubs, handling nearly 40 percent of international arrivals since 2020, according to the Shanghai Airport Authority. It has also been one of the regions hardest hit in the recent wave of COVID-19 infections.

"Airports and airlines will check passengers' health information before boarding," Xu said, reminding passengers to check policies for their departure and destination cities and allow sufficient time to complete a basic health check at the airport, such as temperature tests and filling out health information reports.

According to the State Council Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism against COVID-19, China has reported more than 15,000 COVID-19 cases in 28 provincial-level regions this month.

At an epidemic control conference last week, Minister of Transport Li Xiaopeng reiterated the need to enhance epidemic control in passenger transportation by suspending public transport services, cross-city buses, cabs and ride-hailing services when necessary. He also called for the smooth transport of cargo, especially epidemic control supplies.

Xu, from the CAAC, reminded international travelers to buy tickets via official channels, such as airline company's websites or mobile applications to avoid buying tickets through illegal agents.