While EU countries have so far failed to agree on a coordinated approach to the changing COVID-19 situation, the bloc has ‘strongly’ encouraged a pre-departure test requirement. Other recommended measures for flights arriving in the EU from China include wearing a mask onboard flights, enhanced cleaning of aircraft, vaccination of crew members, random testing of arrivals, sequencing of positive tests, and waste water monitoring at airports to detect infection levels and new variants.
Over the past few weeks, China has rapidly been loosening its strict COVID rules amid citizen unrest. The abrupt policy change has reportedly left its health system overwhelmed as the virus spreads largely unchecked.
China said in December it will lift its quarantine requirement for inbound travellers starting from 8 January. A negative PCR test is still required. It will also resume issuing visas for residents to travel overseas.
This is a major step towards easing curbs on its borders, which have been largely shut since 2020. The rules have gradually been easing in recent weeks to facilitate both domestic and international travel.
Online searches for flights out of China spiked in December from extremely low levels, but residents and travel agencies suggested a return to anything like normal would take some months yet, as caution prevails for now.
