Chinese tourists to increase international travel as the country loosens COVID regulations

From January 8, Chinese tourists no longer have to be quarantined after returning from travel, the government announced this week. This has caused an increase in bookings in China, which has been the world's largest outbound travel market in 2019.

According to VariFlight, international flights to and from China account for only 8% of pre-pandemic times. However, carriers are trying to increase capacity as the government softens COVID restrictions on the number of flights.

By June 2023, Malaysia Airlines and VietJet Aviation hope to resume flights to China to pre-pandemic levels. Meanwhile, carriers such as Singapore Airlines and Qantas Airways have not disclosed their detailed plans. 

Morningstar analyst Cheng Wen told his clients that Chinese airlines' capacity is likely to increase significantly from the end of March. This will coincide with the beginning of the summer scheduling season.