The search volume for outbound flights from Beijing grew 500 percent on ticket booking platform ly.com compared with the day before, after Beijing authorities on Friday announced that some city residents no longer need to submit negative COVID-19 test results when travelling.
During the press conference held by local health authorities, deputy head of the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau Pan Xuhong said residents from low-risk areas in Beijing no longer need to submit a negative COVID-19 nucleic acid test result when they leave the city, starting from Saturday.
Within half an hour after the announcement was made, the search volume for outbound flights from Beijing on Suzhou-based online travel agency ly.com surged 500 percent compared with the same period on Thursday.
Popular destinations included Sanya in South China’s Hainan Province, and Lijiang and Dali in Southwest China’s Yunnan Province, according to ly.com.
Searches for hotels also became more active, with the search volume increasing nearly 350 percent.
Another domestic online travel app, Qunar, told the Global Times that booking orders for flight tickets and train tickets more than doubled within an hour after the new policy was released.
The most popular destinations included Shanghai, Chengdu and Sanya, Qunar said.
According to Beijing Capital International Airport, all passengers will be required to show a qualified digital health code and have their temperature taken before entering the airport.
After satisfying the demands of the local government’s epidemic prevention and the control requirements of the destinations, passengers will be allowed to leave the capital city.
Air China flight CA9597 takes off at the Daxing International Airport in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 25, 2019. Photo:Xinhua
