[ET Net News Agency, 8 July 2020] On 3 July, Beijing announced that nucleic acid test
certificates will no longer be required for outbound travelers in low-risk areas of
Beijing, effective from 4 July.
With the relaxation of control, Goldman Sachs cited Tongcheng-Elong (00780) noting that
Beijing outbound flight ticket searches rose by 500% compared with the same time period
the day before in the half-hour post announcement.
On 5 July, domestic traffic growth picked up to -29%, close to the level before the
partial lockdowns on the back of the Xinfadi outbreak over 11-15 June. Domestic capacity
also picked up from the relatively lower level to which it fell owing to the Beijing
travel restrictions.
Goldman sees this as the possible restart of the domestic recovery, which could
accelerate back to previous levels in early June, assuming that there are no more
significant new Covid-19 outbreaks.
Goldman remains positive on the Chinese airlines, particularly relative to its coverage,
given their exposure to this recovering domestic traffic trend. (KL)