The weekly Xian-Lisbon flight, operated by Beijing Capital Airlines, has been suspended by Chinese authorities until the end of January, due to the ongoing Covid-19 outbreak.
Xian is the only direct flight between China and Portugal. It should resume in early February, according to an airline source quoted by the Portuguese press.
Xian has been under confinement since 23 December, to contain an outbreak of Covid-19.
The city has already suffered 1,663 infections, since it detected the first cases of Covid-19 at the beginning of last December.
The total number of active infected cases in mainland China is now 3,256, of which 1,783 are in Xian.
According to official reports, since the beginning of the pandemic, 102,841 people have been infected across the country, among which 4,636 have died.
China follows a “zero case” strategy with very strict border restrictions and targeted blockades as soon as cases arise, but this approach has not prevented occasional local outbreaks, CLBrief reported.
