BlueskiesaheadChinasinternatio

　　ByXUEBingbing
　　FlightstoandfromChinaaretakingoffforthefirstfullsummerandautumnseasonsstartingMarch26，sinceCovidcontrolmeasureswereliftedlatelastyear。Thesky’sthelimitagainforChina’stourists，withinternationalflightssettosoar。
　　BookingsuntiltheendofJuneareupmorethansixfoldwithThailand，JapanandSingaporeasthetopdestinations。
　　Thepriceofticketshasfallensharply，ledbySingapore。AroundtripfromGuangzhoutoChangiAirport，nowcostsaslittleas1200yuan（US170），thataroundaquarterofthepriceatthebeginningofFebruary。DuringtheMayDayholiday，adirectflightcosts2，402yuan，lessthanthepriceofmanydomesticdestinations。
　　AsflightstoAustralia，Japan，andSouthKoreaincrease，ticketpriceswillcontinuetofall。AdirectflightbetweenTianjinandTokyois2，572yuanonApril16，withBeijingtoTokyoanother500yuan。That’safifthofthepriceinMarch。
　　Beijing’sCapitalAirportstillreachesonly54internationaldestinationswitharound75internationalpassengerflightsperday。That’s50percentuponlastseason，butstillverysmallnumbers。
　　AirChinaaloneplanstoanaverageof100flightseachdayoutofBeijing。ChinaSouthernsaiditwilloperatemorethan730flightsperweekacrossthatcountry，withmorethan400passingthroughGuangzhou。FlightsfromGuangzhouboundforBali，ChiangMai，Phuket，Sabah，andSiemReaphaveeitherresumedorwillresumesoon。
　　SpringAirlinesinternationalflightsincreasedhaveincreasedby50percentsinceFebruary，butremainatawoeful40percentof2019’slevel。
　　Assummerandautumnapproaches，thereareboundtobeproblemsdispatchingmoreinternationalflights。AfterthreeyearsofCovid19，nearlyhalfofthegroundservicestaffatcheckincountersandboardinggateshavebeenlost。