(Yicai Global) May 18 -- The cargo and mail handling capacity at Shanghai’s Pudong International Airport has been rising as the number of staff back at work has exceeded 8,000, after a number of airlines resumed business to ensure production material shipments to key companies.

The airport had average daily cargo flights of 118 between May 1 and 12, up 37 percent from a month earlier, with about 5,300 tons of cargo handled a day, up 65 percent, it told Yicai Global. Nearly half of the 34 cargo firms operating at the hub have recovered more than 80 percent of their capacity and a third of them 50 percent to 80 percent.

About 7,400 employees were working and living in the airport to avoid being infected with Covid-19 from the end of March, when Shanghai entered lockdown. In the cargo transport area over 800 more have gone back to work, compared with early last month, as the city is gradually resuming production and operation.

The airport has been prioritizing the transport of materials used in production to meet the needs of firms in key sectors including integrated circuits, biomedicine, and auto parts, it added.

A number of Chinese carriers have started to resume passenger flights to and from Shanghai, as the city’s Covid-19 resurgence is chiefly under control. Juneyao Airlines restarted flights between Pudong airport and Longyan in Fujian province on May 16, while Spring Airlines resumed flights between Shanghai and Kunming and Dalian today.

Shanghai will gradually resume rail and air services from May 16, Deputy Mayor Zong Ming told reporters that day, adding that the city is planning to get back to normal life next month.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Futura Costaglione