Air China, the national flag carrier for the People’s Republic of China, is resuming its flights to South Africa. This follows a three-year break in the service, which was caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and China’s especially strict lockdown response to it.

“The Beijing-Shenzhen-Johannesburg flight three times per week is significant because it is back to its pre-Covid schedule after three years,” highlighted Gauteng Economic Development MEC Tasneem Motara. “More importantly, the flights will also restore the economic ties that benefitted from the flights between the two [sic] cities.”

China is one of Gauteng province’s and South Africa’s important markets for trade, investment and tourism. China is the country’s largest single trading partner, taking 9.7% of South African exports. And, in the year before Covid, South Africa had received about 120 000 visitors from China, all of whom had entered the country through Gauteng.

“China and South Africa have a long history that has benefitted both countries in areas such as business, education, health care, arts and culture, and tourism,” she affirmed. “In January we celebrated 25 years of diplomatic ties. We hope that the flights will also translate to more economic opportunities, especially for young entrepreneurs.”

South Africa was one of the first 20 countries that Beijing had reopened for travel, following the pandemic. The resumption of flights to Johannesburg by the carrier comes just four months before the 2023 Brazil, Russia, China, India, South Africa (BRICS) summit. This is being hosted by South Africa.

The restored service will be operated by Air China with Airbus A350 new-generation airliners. Depending on cabin configuration, these can carry between 300 and 350 passengers.

As of November last year, Air China reportedly operated 23 A350-900 aircraft, with seven more on order. It had a total fleet of 485 airliners, divided into 128 wide-body and 357 single-aisle types. In terms of manufacturers, its fleet was split into 291 aircraft from Airbus (76 wide-bodies and 215 single-aisles), 179 from Boeing (52 wide-bodies and 127 single-aisles) and 15 from Chinese airframer Comac (all single-aisle regional airliners).