This file photo shows the China Southern Airline's fleet at Guagnzhou Baiyun International Airport in Guangzhou, South China's Guangdong province. (PHOTO / VCG VIA CHINADAILY.COM.CN)

BEIJING - China’s civil aviation regulator on Tuesday announced adjustments to its management policies for domestic airline services in a bid to boost the virus-hit industry.

China will lift restrictions on the maximum limit of weekly flights subject to approval, allowing airlines greater flexibility in arranging passenger flights involving airports of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, among other busy airports, the Civil Aviation Administration of China told a press conference.

China's civil aviation industry continued to see a gradual recovery in August as key indicators reported visible improvements from a month ago, showed data

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While easing the rules, the regulator specified detailed guidelines for applying flights to coordinate market competition and take into consideration the conditions of airport operation.

Meanwhile, the regulator eased restrictions on regional airlines involving three major airports in the cities of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.

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China's civil aviation industry continued to see a gradual recovery in August as key indicators reported visible improvements from a month ago, showed data.

Airlines flew a total of 45.5 million passengers last month, down 25.6 percent year on year. The decline narrowed 8.5 percentage points from July.

The domestic market saw an accelerated recovery, reporting 45.35 million passenger trips, the highest monthly volume this year. 

But the country's domestic tourism revenue is expected to fall by 52 percent to 2.76 trillion yuan in 2020, according to a report by the China Tourism Academy.

The academy, which is affiliated to China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism, said on Monday that it expected the number of domestic tourists to fall by 43 percent to 3.43 billion this year.

The country’s aviation capacity has snapped back to more than 90 percent of pre-pandemic levels, but the sector is still working hard to recover from the first half of the year, which saw the number of domestic tourists dropping 62 percent to 1.17 billion on year, and tourism revenue plummet 77 percent, according to government data.

“We are relatively optimistic about the tourism economy in the latter half of 2020,” the China Tourism Academy concluded.

With Reuters inputs