BEIJING -- China's civil aviation authority started accepting flight resumption applications from Chinese and U.S. airlines on Jan 8 to promote personnel as well as economic and trade exchanges between the two countries.
Nearly 40 Chinese and foreign airlines have applied for about 700 scheduled passenger flights per week between China and 34 other countries. Most of these flights are scheduled to resume operation from late January to February, according to Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC).

A CAAC official said that the administration is completing the approval work in accordance with procedures and welcomes Chinese and U.S. airlines to operate flights between the two countries in accordance with relevant agreements and market demand.

The CAAC will strengthen communication with U.S. civil aviation authorities to promote the smooth resumption of flights, the official said.
The recovery of the international passenger aviation market will take a relatively long time, since the resumption of international flights is affected by multiple factors such as demand, capacity, schedule coordination and approval by domestic and foreign civil aviation authorities, said the official.

After the impact of the pandemic, it will take time for people to recover their willingness to travel across borders, so the international aviation market recovery will be slower than the domestic sector, the official added.