(Yicai Global) Nov. 17 -- China’s civil aviation regulator has slashed the number of flights bound for Beijing from five provincial capitals classified as medium to high risk of Covid-19 in a bid to prevent the disease from entering the capital. It will be another body blow to the country’s struggling carriers.

There will just be one flight a day to Beijing from Harbin in northeastern Heilongjiang province, Shijiazhuang in northern Hebei, Chengdu in southwestern Sichuan, Yinchuan in northwestern Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region and Zhengzhou in central Henan, the Civil Aviation Administration of China said yesterday. Normally there is a flight every hour.

Beijing flights are one of the most profitable domestic routes, industry insiders told Yicai Global. The nation’s flagship carrier Air China, which is based out of Beijing, will be affected the most, they added.

Most of China’s carriers have yet to return to profit since the onset of the pandemic two years ago as fewer international routes, more stringent airport epidemic-control measures and other factors crimp profits. The new restriction will not help matters.

The new rule has already come into effect. Local aviation regulators will decide which airlines can fly to Beijing, a CAAC insider told Yicai Global.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Kim Taylor