Emirates announced on Monday that it would resume service to Beijing and Shanghai following the Chinese government’s decision to lift the vast majority of its pandemic travel restrictions.
The Dubai-based carrier will initially serve Shanghai with just two weekly services beginning January 20 before ramping up to a four-times-weekly service from February 2 and then moving to a daily service beginning March 1.
The service from Dubai to Shanghai will be non-stop, but the return flight will make a short stop in Bangkok until March 1 when the service will transition to a non-stop flight in both directions.
Flights between Dubai and Beijing won’t return until March 15, but Emirates plans to restart services to the Chinese capital with a daily non-stop flight. The flight will be operated on a Boeing 777-300, with First Class, Business and Economy.
Emirates already serves Guangzhou but from February 1, the carrier will ramp up operations to a daily non-stop service on its flagship Airbus A380.
At the start of the pandemic, Emirates attempted to continue services to mainland China before being forced to withdraw from the market for most of the last three years due to the strict travel restrictions that dampened demand and made it difficult to operate in the region.
On Monday, Emirates said it had been prompted to restart operations to Beijing and Shanghai in response to strong travel demand following the lifting of restrictions like mandatory quarantine.
Last week, the Civil Aviation Administration of China said that it expected international flights to and from China to hit 80 per cent of pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2023.
