Recently, China relaxed its PCR testing requirements for returning to China, but that was followed by a large number of flight suspensions, which actually made it harder to get back to China in the end. On August 7, 2022, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) issued a notice, Optimization and Adjustment of Circuit Breaker Measures for International Scheduled Passenger Flights, and began optimizing and adjusting the circuit breaker measures for international scheduled passenger flights effective August 7. Overall, the change loosens the suspension standard.

Policy Changes

Below is an excerpt from the original policy text:

The adjusted circuit breaker measures are as follows: for a single inbound flight operated by an airline, if the number of confirmed infected passengers reaches 5 cases and accounts for 4% of the inbound passengers on that flight, operations will be suspended for 1 week; if the number of confirmed infected passengers reaches 8% of the inbound passengers on that flight, operations will be suspended for 2 weeks. Suspended flight capacity may not be reassigned to other routes.

Relevant policies will be adjusted as necessary in due course based on the pandemic situation and prevention and control requirements.


Compared with the previous rules, where a “small circuit breaker” meant 2 weeks and a “large circuit breaker” meant 4 weeks, the new suspension periods have been reduced to 1 week and 2 weeks. The suspension trigger is also tied to the percentage of confirmed cases among passengers on the flight. Specifically:

  • If the number of confirmed cases is at least 5 and accounts for 4% of the passengers on the flight:
    • Small circuit breaker: 1 week
  • If the number of confirmed cases is at least 5 and accounts for 8% of the passengers on the flight:
    • Large circuit breaker: 2 weeks

Based on a 75% load factor, the original 5-person threshold for a small circuit breaker could rise to roughly 8 or more people, so triggering a suspension becomes much more difficult. If China Southern were to use the A380 on the Guangzhou–Los Angeles route, it would no longer face such a high risk of being easily suspended. However, because aircraft changes require approval, it is still unclear whether airlines are interested in switching to larger aircraft to bring more people back to China.

Summary

Overall, this is definitely good news for people hoping to return to China. The threshold for triggering a suspension is higher, and the suspension period has also been cut in half, which should make sudden flight suspensions far less likely to prevent people from returning to China.