<article><p class="lead">China is sharply restricting the number of international flights it will allow in and out of the country as the global spread of the coronavirus threatens to trigger a rebound in cases.</p><p>Chinese airlines will only be allowed to maintain one route to any specific country and fly a maximum of one flight a week. And foreign airlines can only operate one flight a week to China, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said.</p><p>The restrictions, which take effect from 29 March with no end date, have been imposed just as China's economy starts to ramp up as the domestic coronavirus outbreak <a href="https://direct.argusmedia.com/newsandanalysis/article/2089874">comes under control</a>. There were no new locally-transmitted cases for a second day yesterday, according to official figures. But the country is facing a new infection threat from overseas arrivals, with 67 new imported cases discovered yesterday.</p><p>International flights accounted for around 12pc of total passenger volumes in China in December, but 28pc of passenger turnover on a passenger kilometer basis, according to CAAC figures.</p><p>The curbs on international flights, together with a collapse in global air travel, have the potential to limit a recovery in the country's jet fuel demand. China's <a href="https://direct.argusmedia.com/newsandanalysis/article/2090661">apparent demand</a> for jet fuel slumped by 20pc from a year earlier to 621,000 b/d in January-February, a more than two-year low. Demand was likely down by 54pc in February, but the year-on-year drop will narrow this month, according to estimates from the China Petroleum Planning and Engineering Institute (CPPEI) think-tank, an arm of state-owned energy firm CNPC. </p><p class="bylines">By Kevin Foster</p></article>
