China delays approval for chartered flights between Incheon and Chongqing

The Chinese government has delayed approval of chartered flights between Incheon and Chongqing due to the recent increase of confirmed COVID cases in Korea. Meanwhile, Singapore has strengthened quarantine measures on passengers coming from Korea.

The China Department of the Korea International Trade Association (KITA) explained in a notice sent to corporate circles that the Civil Aviation Authority of China delayed the approval of chartered flights from Korea due to the nation’s worsening COVID-19 situation. Thus chartered flights between Incheon and Chongqing, initially scheduled to open on Friday, has been delayed. The trade association had pushed to arrange chartered flights by Asiana Airlines for Korean small and medium businesses residing in Chongqing, aligning with the Civil Aviation Authority to launch flights on Friday and next Friday. The Authority’s sudden change of position two days before the scheduled flight is unexpected. “We closed applications for the flight on Aug. 24,” said an employee at a Korean business. “There was no hint of the cancellation then. The decision appears to be urgently made.”

Chartered flights that had been arranged by local Korean communities in China could be impacted as well. “We are continuing to work with the municipal government of Tianjin, but approval of chartered flights is being delayed due to the various developments,” the Korean Federation of Tianjin said in an announcement on Wednesday. “Those with urgent needs are advised to use flights in other regions.”


Ki-Yong Kim kky@donga.com · Jong-Yeob JO jjj@donga.com