China cuts international flights on global virus spread

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.

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.

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 comes under control. 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.

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.

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 apparent demand 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.

By Kevin Foster