Chinese New Year outbound group tours are soaring, should I check my nucleic acid back home?

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NO.1 Spring Festival domestic daily flight volume exceeds the same period in 2019

Flight Manager data shows that from January 14 to 15 (the 8th and 9th days of Spring Festival), the number of domestic passenger flights reached 11,752 and 12,116, respectively, exceeding the number of flights guided by the CAAC’s previously established phased market recovery (daily domestic passenger flights not exceeding 11,667), of which, the number of domestic passenger flights on January 15 has exceeded the same period in 2019 by 104% of the same period.

Previously, the CAAC issued the Work Plan for the Safe and Orderly Restoration of the Air Transport Market, which states that, taking into account the safety and security capabilities of airlines, airports, air traffic control and air defense areas, airlines will be guided to steadily resume flights in this season in accordance with three stages.

The first phase is from the release date of the program to January 6, 2023, and the maximum daily domestic flights during this phase will not exceed 9,280. The second phase is from January 7 to January 31, 2023, during which the maximum daily domestic flights shall not exceed 11,667. The third phase is from February 1 to March 25, 2023, which is the same as the second phase.

This shows that the current resumption of flights has exceeded expectations.

NO.2 Nucleic acid check back home again?

Since January 15, the Chinese embassies in the U.S., Canada, Japan, Korea, Singapore and other countries have issued notices detailing the requirements for passengers traveling to China to undergo nucleic acid testing 48 hours prior to travel.

Starting January 17, 2023 (local time), airlines flying to China will be responsible for verifying that passengers have tested negative for nucleic acid within 48 hours prior to boarding. Chinese Customs will conduct random checks of the certificates upon passenger entry.

Previously, effective January 8, China officially abolished full inbound nucleic acid testing and centralized quarantine. At that time, the requirement was that incoming passengers should take a nucleic acid test 48 hours prior to their trip and have a negative result before coming to China, without having to apply for a health code from our embassies and consulates abroad and fill in the result into the customs health declaration card. After entering the country, the health declaration is normal and there is no abnormality in the routine quarantine at the customs port, they can be released to enter the social side.

The change between the new requirements and the old requirements is that the original nucleic acid before returning home was done by self-consciousness, but now it needs to be checked by the flight director before boarding, while the customs will randomly check after entry.

NO.3 Outbound group tours open, the first batch is limited to some countries

On January 20, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism issued a notice announcing that from February 6, 2023, travel agencies and online travel enterprises nationwide will resume operating outbound group tours and “airfare + hotel” business for Chinese citizens to the countries concerned on a pilot basis. With immediate effect, travel agencies and online travel enterprises can carry out product launch, promotion and other preparatory work.

The first batch of outbound group tours involving countries such as Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia, Maldives, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Laos, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Kenya, South Africa, Russia, Switzerland, Hungary, New Zealand, Fiji, Cuba, Argentina. While South Korea, Japan, the United States, and most of the countries in Europe are not in the first list.

Once the news was released, the search volume of outbound tour products on the Ctrip platform instantly jumped 5 times, driving the heat of overseas destinations up 330%, with the highest search volume in Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Singapore and Cambodia.