(Yicai) April 1 -- Chinese and foreign airlines made great efforts to add more international flights and open new international routes in China in the summer-autumn seasons that kicked off this month to meet the demand from soaring international passengers.

The Civil Aviation Administration of China approved 122 domestic and overseas airlines to introduce 12,656 new international passenger flights per week between China and 66 countries and regions worldwide during the new season from April to October, according to CAAC data.

In the autumn-summer season this year, Juneyao Airlines will operate more international flights than before the Covid-19 outbreak in 2019, Vice President Tan Feng told Yicai.

In addition to a direct flight from Shanghai to Athens in Greece launching this month, Juneyao will also add direct flights to Manchester in the United Kingdom and Brussels in Belgium in July, which are the first regular flights between Shanghai and the three cities, Tan noted.

Juneyao will raise the number of its weekly flights to and from Southeast Asia to nearly 100, Tan said, adding that the Shanghai-based carrier will also add regular flights between Shanghai and cities in Thailand, Singapore, Penang in Malaysia, and Bali in Indonesia.

China Eastern Airlines restored its international flights to around 90 percent of the pre-pandemic level, while Air China aims to achieve such milestone in the third quarter, Yicai learned from insiders. The CAAC set its target for China’s international flights to recover to 80 percent of the same level in 2019 by the end of this year.

Flights to 22 countries, including Singapore, Australia, the United Arab Emirates, the UK, and Italy, for the autumn-summer season have exceeded the level in 2019, according to online travel platform Qunar. Flights to Africa and West Asia recovered to the same level as before the pandemic.

In the new season, flights to North America and Central Asia significantly increased, while those to Europe have not yet completely recovered.

Planned international flights in the autumn-summer season are expected to rise to about 80 percent of the level in 2019, but the actual figure will depend on passenger demand, Qunar estimated.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Futura Costaglione