Wuhan, as soon as the epicenter of the Covid-19 pandemic, will quickly be reachable by way of continuous flight from the US. Although flights between the US and China are nonetheless far much less frequent than a number of years in the past, that is an encouraging signal of a return to normalcy.
The brand new route
Beginning November 4, China Southern Airways intends to function a weekly service on their Boeing 777-300ER between Wuhan (WUH) and San Francisco (SFO). IshrionA, a Twitter account overlaying airline routes and different trade content material, was the primary to report the brand new route. The main points are as follows:
- Departure from WUH: 3:10 PM
- Arrival at SFO: 10:55 AM
- Departure from SFO: 12:55 PM
- Arrival at WUH: 6:40 PM (+1 day)
The plane is scheduled to the touch down in San Francisco on Saturdays and return to Wuhan on Sundays. All these plans are, after all, topic to approval from the US Division of Transportation.
US-China flights are choosing up
This new route comes amid a broader improve in flights between China and the US. On the primary of this month, the variety of permitted weekly round-trip flights rose to 18, and by October 29, 2023, that quantity will climb to 24. Till Could 2023, limitations had been far more stringent, permitting solely eight weekly flights between the 2 nations. This restriction accounted for the once-a-week flight schedules in main routes, resembling from Beijing to New York and Shanghai to Los Angeles.
Connectivity continues to be not nice
It’s essential to spotlight that the deliberate 24 weekly flights are a modest fraction of pre-pandemic numbers. Earlier than the outbreak of Covid-19, bilateral agreements between the USA and China allowed as much as 150 weekly flights. As Fortunate from OMAAT factors out, which means the scheduled service by late October will represent simply 16% of the flight capability that existed earlier than the pandemic.
Conclusion
Whereas the Wuhan-San Francisco route and the broader improve in flights between China and the US is a optimistic improvement, it’s vital to notice that we’re nonetheless removed from the pre-pandemic stage of worldwide connectivity. Nonetheless, with China having been the final main holdout when it got here to easing pandemic-era guidelines, the resumption of flights from Wuhan to the US is a symbolic milestone within the last steps towards pre-pandemic norms for the aviation world.
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