Fire engines spray water over Xiamen Airlines Flight MF8095 to welcome the jet at Tianhe Airport in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei province, April 8, 2020. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

China will allow domestic and overseas airlines to increase the number of international passenger flights in and out of the country if the epidemic risks are controllable, said the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) on Thursday.

Domestic and overseas airlines that have been operating international passenger flights under restrictions imposed on March 29 will still stick to the previous plan, with domestic airlines flying one flight a week on one route to any country and foreign airlines operating one flight a week to China, the administration said.

Foreign airlines with no international passenger flights to the country will be allowed to operate one flight per week starting June 8, the Civil Aviation Administration of China said

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Foreign airlines with no international passenger flights to the country will be allowed to operate one flight per week starting June 8, it added.

Airlines should file their pre-flight plans for the period until Oct 24, 2020, according to the CAAC.

The CAAC will also have a reward and circuit breaker mechanism in place to contain the number of imported cases of the novel coronavirus.

If the number of passengers who have a positive nucleic acid test stands at zero for three consecutive weeks on the same route, airlines will be allowed to add one additional flight per week to the route as a bonus, it said.

But the airline will suspend the operation of the route for one week if five or more passengers test positive for the coronavirus. If the number exceeds 10, the airline will be asked to suspend flights on the route for four weeks, it said, adding that airlines could fly the route again after the "circuit breaker" period.

The administration also noted that it will allow certain eligible countries to increase the number of international passenger flights in and out of the country if the epidemic risks are controllable.

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With Xinhua input