China will end flight control measures — the "circuit breaker" and "five ones" policies — for inbound international flights starting Jan 8, promoting the resumption of international passenger flights, the Civil Aviation Administration of China said on Wednesday.

No more flights will be categorized as high-risk, and the 75 percent of seats requirement for inbound flights will be lifted.

No more closed-loop management, quarantine or nucleic acid test results are required for inbound flight aircrew and staff.

The sector will strengthen the management of the price of international flights in accordance with bilateral air transport agreements and relevant laws, inspect unfair competition in ticket prices, maintain a reasonable price in the air transport market and protect the rights and interests of customers and operators.

According to the "five ones" policy, domestic airlines had to reduce their international routes to one per country and cap their number of flights at no more than one per week, while foreign carriers were allowed to maintain only one air route to China and operate no more than one flight a week.

The "circuit breaker" rule meant that a carrier's operations would be suspended for two weeks if five or more passengers tested positive for COVID-19 on landing in China. If 10 or more passengers tested positive, the suspension was extended to four weeks.

On Tuesday, China announced it would lift quarantine for inbound passengers, also starting on Jan 8.

Although the measures effectively contained the spread of the virus, they also caused a drastic drop in international flights.

"Lifting certain control measures for inbound international flights and removing quarantine for inbound passengers is a positive step for China," said Xie Xingquan, regional vice-president for North Asia at the International Air Transport Association.

"The civil aviation sector should be fully prepared to allocate sufficient resources to meet the surge in travel, in order to avoid disruptions and other problems seen in other places across the world when borders reopened," he said.

Xie said China's quarantine measures have slowed the recovery of air travel in the Asia-Pacific region compared with other parts of the world.

By the end of 2022, passenger traffic in the Asia-Pacific region is expected to recover to 44 percent of the level in 2019, while other major regions have already recovered to 80 to 90 percent of the level in 2019, he said.

According to the industry outlook released by IATA at the beginning of this month, if China gradually eases restrictions in the second half of 2023, passenger traffic in the Asia-Pacific region is expected to recover to about 70 percent of the amount in 2019.

Li Xiaojin, a professor of aviation economics at Civil Aviation University in Tianjin, agreed, saying that the policy adjustment will boost the growth of the aviation market and the national economy.

"The policy adjustment will greatly release demand to cross the border, which has been controlled for three years," he said.

The optimized policies will also greatly improve the supply of international civil aviation transport, and prices of international passenger and freight transport are expected to decline steadily, Li added.

Compared with prices before the epidemic, the prices of international passenger and cargo transportation are higher, mainly because there are fewer flights, and airlines and airports have to share fixed costs among a small number of passengers and cargo.

Li also noted that airlines, airports, air traffic control and other departments should be prepared for safety issues and offer high-quality service.

"Airlines, airports, air traffic control and security units should be prepared for safety and service. Since most international flights have been suspended for three years and personnel, facilities, equipment and management regulations have been suspended, it takes time to go through recovery and training."

In August last year, China operated about 230 international passenger flights a week.

From Oct 31 to Nov 6 this year, the country operated 1,029 international flights. Last week, it operated 1,474 international flights.

In 2019, the average number of weekly international flights was 18,750.

"China's reopening of its borders in January 2023 will definitely contribute to the recovery of the Asia-Pacific region," Xie added.

"I see colorful light through the clouds after a long time of black and white," a flight attendant from a major airline company posted on her social media platform on Wednesday, referring to the policy adjustment.