HAIKOU, April 2. /TASS/. Starting from April 2, Hainan Airlines resumes flights to some cities of Hubei Province which was most hit by the novel coronavirus outbreak, according to the company's press service.
The airline announced the resumption of flights along the Sanya — Tianjin route through the city of Xianyang (Hubei Province). Flights to this destination will be carried out four times a week. Another Sanya – Hohhot flight via Shiyan (Hubei Province) will be operated three times a week.
Starting from April 8, Wuhan Airport resumes domestic flights service. Thus, Hainan Airlines also resumes flights between seven Chinese cities and Wuhan, the administrative center of Hubei Province: Haikou, Sanya and Taiyuan. In a week, the airline intends to carry out about 42 flights through Wuhan Tianhe Airport. Subsequently, all canceled flights to Hubei Province in accordance with the order of the State Civil Aviation Administration of China are expected to be resumed.
Coronavirus pandemic
In late December 2019, Chinese authorities notified the World Health Organization (WHO) about the outbreak of a previously unknown pneumonia in the city of Wuhan, in central China. Since then, cases of the novel coronavirus - named COVID-19 by the WHO - have been reported in every corner of the globe, including Russia.
On March 11, 2020, the WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. To date, more than 900,000 people have been infected worldwide and over 45,000 deaths have been reported.