Airlines add more routes, opening up flight options
Passengers at Shanghai Pudong International Airport bound for overseas trips.
Following the resumption of outbound group tours, more international flights out of Shanghai are being scheduled.
Shanghai-based China Eastern Airlines has resumed 52 air routes to overseas destinations, with 302 flights per week. They include Shanghai-New York, Shanghai-London, Shanghai-Toronto, Shanghai-Paris, Shanghai-Sydney and Shanghai-Frankfurt.
By the end of February, there will be 60 routes, with 410 flights every week, the airline said.
China Eastern also plans to add routes from Shanghai to Taipei, Dubai, Manila, and Wuxi to Hong Kong and Macau by the end of February.
China Southern Airlines has also expanded its international network with the resumption and launch of 48 round-trip routes in 12 countries.
The airline has joined hands with travel agencies and launched group excursions from Guangzhou in southern Guangdong Province to New Zealand, the Philippines, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Kenya, the Maldives, Russia and the United Arab Emirates.
It said that in order to meet the upsurge in demand for outbound travel, it will keep expanding its flight schedule to international locations. The airline offers 82 flights per week on 50 air routes to overseas regions and countries.
Spring Airlines, based in Shanghai, has resumed 24 foreign routes, 16 of which fly to Southeast Asian destinations.
According to the airline, the average load factor of its international and regional flights has exceeded 90 percent since the end of the Spring Festival break, and many flights have reached 100 percent.
Online booking is available for popular destinations.
Many outbound ticket prices have fallen along with the increase in flights.
For instance, on Friday, the cost of a direct trip from Shanghai to Chiang Mai in Thailand ranged from 1,379 yuan (US$203) to 1,970 yuan; however, for flights on February 20, the prices had dropped to less than 1,000 yuan.
The price of direct flights to Bangkok was around 4,000 yuan on Thursday. It dropped to nearly half for flights 10 days later.
