Plane ticket bookings double in hour as China eases Covid rules

Bloomberg

Bookings for flights into China doubled in the hour after the government announced an easing of restrictions for inbound travellers, including shorter quarantine, Ctrip.com said.
Inbound reservations on the online travel agent’s platform were twice as high as the same hour, while international flight searches increased 200%, according to a statement on Friday.
Among other measures, mandatory hotel quarantine will drop to five days from seven, sparking the rush, though China’s National Health Commission didn’t say when the rules would take effect. A system that suspends airlines if they bring infected passengers into the country is also being scrapped.
The changes, detailed in a 20-point playbook for officials, seem aimed at both reducing the country’s global isolation and easing the impact of virus mitigation measures on the ground.
“The further easing reflects a balance between Covid control and economic development, and prepares for more opening up of the travel market,” Ctrip said in the statement.
Expectations for a loosening of curbs have been building, with searches for international flights rising 122% from October 31 to November 11 compared with the same period last year, according to Ctrip. China’s biggest airlines had also announced plans for more flights. Ctrip said the international flight schedule is now 1,300 a week, up 30% from the end of October.
After China’s announcement, Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. said it will increase flights to the mainland. The company’s shares jumped as much as 5.2% on Friday, the biggest gain in four months. Other airlines and travel-related stocks also rallied on the news, along with Asian equity markets more broadly, as well as the yuan.
China’s adherence to Covid Zero, along with a property market slump, have hit economic activity this year, pushing down consumer and business confidence as people are stuck in a cycle of outbreaks, lockdowns and ubiquitous testing. Domestic demand has struggled with disruption from Covid controls, adding to the economy’s problems.
Among the new 20 guidelines were other measures to ease the burden of Covid Zero on ordinary Chinese people: only one pre-departure PCR test will be required now for travellers attempting to enter China, down from two. And when faced with outbreaks, local officials are being asked to avoid city-wide mass testing, unless transmission chains are unclear.
Nevertheless, China’s reopening process will likely remain slow and cautious, with millions of the country’s elderly still under-vaccinated, and a deeply-rooted public fear of Covid after years of propaganda demonising Western countries’ lax attitudes towards the virus.