Shanghai resumes cross-province group tourism

Following a 174-day hiatus, Shanghai resumed group tourism on Thursday in accordance with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism's guidance on cross-province group tourism.

A China Eastern flight containing 17 passengers from Shanghai to Guizhou province on Thursday was among the first in China to take off following the lifting of the cross-province travel restriction.

Daily flights by the Shanghai-based carrier have rebounded from its lowest of 200 to up to 2,000 in July, approaching about 80 percent of pre-epidemic levels, said Xi Sheng, vice-president of China Eastern.

In June, China Eastern became the nation's first carrier to introduce an innovative ticketing product which allows passengers to fly at any time to any destination in the Chinese mainland during weekends. This special ticket is valid until the end of this year.

Over the past three weekends, more than 250,000 domestic trips were made from Shanghai to at least 137 cities across the Chinese mainland.