The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) announced that their new schedule starting from October, 28 to March 30, 2019, will see a 4.1 percent decrease of the international flights compared to the same period of 2017/2018.
The overall flights including both domestically and internationally, however, with 90,051 flights on a weekly basis, will experience a 4.5 percent year-on-year growth.
People in CAAC explained the decline in the international flights is due to the new online checking system that verified the airlines' traffic rights and exact timetable for a certain flight so that companies who don't have the right to fly or follow the timetable were asked to cancel their flights.
The new policy known as "Administrative Measures on International Traffic Rights Resource Allocation and Use," was issued in June this year. It has also contributed to the decrease since it stipulated that airlines should strictly follow the approved routes, schedules, aircraft types, operation dates, which in turn forced companies who didn't meet the requirements to cancel their flights on their own.
