Chongqing- Flight WE684 of Thai Smile Airways landed at Southwest China's Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport at noon on July 9, marking the official resumption of the passenger route from Chongqing to Bangkok, Thailand, which had been suspended for nearly two years.

It serves as the second international route resumed at Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport after the resumption of the Chongqing-Rome passenger route since the COVID-19 pandemic.

To ensure the smooth resumption of international flights, Chongqing Jiangbei Airport Customs of Chongqing Customs District arranges special personnel to contact international airlines according to their willingness to resume international routes. 

15 international routes will resume

The airport plans to add more international passenger flights to help boost the economy.

Facing the increasing flow of inbound and outbound passengers, Chongqing Jiangbei Airport Customs has improved inbound and outbound disposal capacity and efficiency, increased more than 50 on-site health and quarantine staff, and updated more than 20 computers and equipment.

By optimizing the health and quarantine disposal process, Chongqing Jiangbei Airport Customs improves the customs clearance efficiency and ensures that the inbound and outbound on-site disposal capacity matches the passenger flow.

"We appreciate the customs for fully supporting the resumption of our international routes and giving great help to our foreign enterprises," said Yong Ruolin, head of the ground business of Thailand Smile Airways. 

With more international routes resuming in Chongqing, the passenger flow of Jiangbei Airport will return to the level of the same period in previous years.

Chongqing Customs District will continue to support the resumption of 15 international routes in the future, ensure the health and quarantine protection, and improve the intellectual supervision level, making every effort to protect the country's security. 

The annual passenger throughput is to reach 80 million by 2024

In 2021, Chongqing saw a passenger throughput of 35,766 million cargo and mail throughput of 477,000 tons, ranking fourth and eighth in the country. It is expected that by 2024, Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport will meet the annual passenger throughput of 80 million, aircraft movements of 580,000, and cargo and mail throughput of 1.2 million tons, with the fourth runway and T3B terminal fully complete. 

Furthermore, Chongqing views the international aviation hub as core to its future global and nationwide airline network, intending to achieve efficient connectivity with essential regions, like the Yangtze River Delta and the Guangdong-Hongkong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

Specifically, Chongqing will focus on the west and south to accelerate the three major transit channels' construction: Europe-Chongqing-Southeast Asia, Northeast Asia-Chongqing-Africa, and South Asia-Chongqing-North Ameria. 

(Ge Rongchen, as an intern, also contributed to this report.)