Two flights a week, passenger numbers to Kyrgyzstan up 660 percent, 95 percent of foreigners use online arrival cards

As reported by CCTV+, on Thursday, the first direct flight between Guangzhou in southern China and Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, was launched. This will strengthen transport links between China and Central Asia.

Two flights per week will operate in both directions. The service is part of ongoing efforts to expand aviation links under the Belt and Road Initiative. Previously, Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport had already opened direct flights to two other major Central Asian cities — Almaty and Tashkent.

According to airport border control authorities, passenger traffic through this hub is showing steady growth. The number of passengers travelling between China and Central Asian countries via Baiyun Airport has exceeded 90,000 since the beginning of the year, an increase of nearly 287 percent compared to last year.

Specifically, passenger traffic to Kazakhstan grew by more than 258 percent, to Uzbekistan by 352 percent, and to Kyrgyzstan by 660 percent.

The new air service is expected to make travel more convenient and further promote business, cultural and people-to-people exchanges between China and Central Asia.

Zeng Lingyun, a border control officer at Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport, explained: “To ensure more efficient and smooth travel for Chinese citizens and citizens of Central Asian countries, we adhere to scientifically based passenger flow assessment and dynamic deployment of law enforcement personnel. The completion rate of online arrival cards for foreign citizens has exceeded 95 percent. The airport also provides multilingual services to constantly simplify border crossing procedures, ensuring safe and smooth movement between China and Central Asian countries.”

Guangzhou Baiyun is one of the largest aviation hubs in southern China. The launch of the Astana flight completes direct air links with all three largest cities in Central Asia: Almaty, Tashkent and Astana.

The numbers are impressive: 90,000 passengers, 287 percent growth. But the point is not the numbers. China and Central Asia are literally becoming closer — just one flight away. Astana, Almaty, Tashkent are now connected to Guangzhou by direct wings. Businessmen make it to negotiations, students to lectures, tourists to excursions. Border control is simplifying procedures; online cards are filled out by 95 percent of arrivals. The question is not whether passenger traffic will grow. It will. The question is when these flights will become as routine as buses. And when the next direct route will connect not only cities but also the destinies of millions. While planes fly, the bridges between countries only grow stronger. And that, perhaps, is the main result.