(Yicai) Nov. 4 -- The number of international direct flights between China and Canada has only recovered to 36 percent of the level before the Covid-19 pandemic.

There were more than 70 direct flights per week between China and Canada in 2019, two-thirds of which were operated by Chinese airlines. However, the number has been stuck at 24 since October last year, when Canada lifted restrictions on direct flights between the two countries.

According to new regulations, Chinese and Canadian airlines have the same maximum number of direct flights to be operated between the two countries. But the fact that Chinese airlines hold a larger share now means that Canadian airlines have not yet fully utilized their quota.

In October, 319 flights were operated between China and Canada, up 2.5-fold from a year earlier, according to Flight Master. The number of international flights operated between them jumped 28 percent in the first 10 months of the year from the same period last year, according to Chinese travel platform Qunar.

China announced yesterday that it had decided to resume group tour services for Chinese citizens traveling to Canada through travel agencies, which resulted in increased searches for flights between the two nations. Canada has always been a popular destination for Chinese tourists.

As flights between China and Canada still have to fly around Russian airspace, Canadian airlines are more inclined to operate along the more profitable Atlantic routes under limited human resources and transport capacity, an industry insider told Yicai. Maintaining the limited transport capacity on the China-Canada routes also helps keep ticket prices stable, they added.

Direct flights between China and Europe have fully resumed after the pandemic. However, most of them are operated by Chinese airlines as they are still allowed to fly over Russia, while European peers cannot.

“Chinese airlines do not need to fly around Russia to reach Europe, so they have a certain cost advantage over European airlines,” Lin Zhijie, a civil aviation industry insider, told Yicai. “The China-Europe route has also become a key market for domestic airlines to resume and open new international routes.”

Editor: Futura Costaglione