China’s reopening to the world over the weekend is seeing considerably more jet fuel about to be consumed in the world’s most populous nation, while for crew managers there’s a relief that the country has made crew changes far easier for the first time in nearly three years.
As part of the dismantling of its zero-covid policy Beijing has allowed travel in and out of the country with transport officials also revealing over the weekend that crew leaving or joining ships in China will no longer need to quarantine. Seafarers coming from overseas must now only take a covid test 48 hours prior to the departure of their last port of call before entering the People’s Republic.
Scenes of packed airports and family members meeting each other after years apart have been plastered across multiple media channels in the 36 hours since China lifted its travel restrictions, with a host of airlines stating they will now ramp up the volume of flights in and out of the country regardless of the soaring rates of covid infections being experienced across the republic.
