Direct China flights to resume on June 11, with one flight per week
Flights between Lisbon and Xian, the capital of China's Shaanxi province - that constituted the only direct link between Portugal and East Asia - are being re-launched.
Direct flights between Portugal and China are to resume on June 11, with one flight per week, after being suspended for over six months.
A source from Beijing Capital Airlines told Lusa that flights between Lisbon and Xian, the capital of China’s Shaanxi province – that constituted the only direct link between Portugal and East Asia – was being re-launched.
The authorities in of Xian suspended the link with Lisbon on December 25, at a time when that region was facing an outbreak of the novel coronavirus that causes Covid-19. Domestic flights to and from the city resumed on January 23, but international connections remained suspended.
The Lisbon flights were left with an uncertain status, being systematically cancelled week after week.
Under the Chinese government’s ‘zero Covid’ strategy, the country’s borders have been kept all but closed since March 2020.
The country authorises just one flight per city per airline, reducing the number of international air connections to the country by 98% compared to the pre-pandemic period.
