(Yicai Global) July 6 -- Deutsche Lufthansa is restarting another weekly flight route to China's mainland as the first European airline to get the green light from China's aviation authorities to do so amid the pandemic.

After a months-long pause, the German carrier will today begin flying again from Frankfurt to eastern China's Nanjing, the Cologne-headquartered firm told Yicai Global yesterday. It kicked off its Shanghai-Frankfurt flight again late last month. Before this, only two American airlines have been approved to operate two mainland routes a week.

The Civil Aviation Administration of China is looking to expand the number of flights from some eligible countries that are not the origins of many imported cases to China but have strong trade relations with the Asian country after limiting transport heavily due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Other overseas airlines are following suit as Air New Zealand, Virgin Atlantic Airways, Air France, and Aeroflot have disclosed their plans of resuming China routes.

The capacity increase of foreign airlines proves consumer confidence in the Chinese aviation market, and perhaps to some extent also in the country's economic recovery, civil aviation industry insider Lin Zhijie told Yicai Global.

Before the outbreak, Lufthansa operated the Frankfurt-Nanjing route three times a week. Besides the European carrier, Air China and China Eastern Airlines currently operate routes between Shanghai and the German city.

Editor: Tang Shihua, Emmi Laine