(Yicai Global) April 29 -- Guangzhou airport said it will reopen a limited number of domestic routes despite three employees having tested positive for Covid-19.

Passenger flights to Chongqing, Chengdu, and Hangzhou will operate normally from today, Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport announced early in the day.

The airport had notified airlines yesterday that all domestic passenger flights would be grounded over the following two days, though special permission could be granted in exceptional circumstances. Cargo and international flights would continue as normal, it said.

Even before reporting the Covid-19 cases among staff, the airport had slashed passenger traffic due to the pandemic. The flight cancelation rate was 70.5 percent on April 27, according to data from air travel information provider Flight Master.

The rate at airports in Changchun and Shanghai, two cities severely hit by coronavirus outbreaks, was 100 percent and 96.9 percent, Flight Master data showed. The figures for Chengdu Shuangliu, Tianjin Binhai, and Haikou Meilan airports were relatively low at 45 percent, 49.7 percent, and 50.8 percent, respectively.

The civil aviation sector is coming up against “unprecedented difficulties” this month because domestic travel is down to 20 percent of what it was in 2019 and oil prices have surged 75 percent, industry analyst Lin Zhijie told Yicai Global.

No passenger airline can make a profit under these conditions, Lin said, adding that the big carriers are losing about CNY100 million (USD15.1 million) a day. International and cargo flights, which could make a profit, have also been impacted by the pandemic recently, so it will be hard for the industry to pick up next month, he said.

Editors: Zhang Yushuo, Futura Costaglione