With yesterday’s announcement that all parts of Nanjing are now deemed to be low risk, and confirmation this morning that yesterday saw no new cases, we can say with confidence that our city has triumphed once again. Time then to get normality back.
To a degree. Reports which have emerged in the last 48 hours suggesting a resumption of flights in and out of Nanjing Lukou International Airport have proved presumptuous.
Chinese media, The Paper, ran a story yesterday detailing some of the flights which would supposedly be operating; while Sydney, Australia-based, CAPA – Centre for Aviation went with the generic headline, “Nanjing Airport to resume limited domestic operations on 19-Aug-2021”. Nothing left the ground yesterday.
And nothing will for a while, it seems. A Lukou insider yesterday told The Nanjinger that no date for the resumption of flights has as yet been set.
On the ground though, there is better news. Metro Lines 1 and 3 have today started running again across their entire lengths. Services in Jiangning were curtailed during the outbreak, with trains to medium and high-risk areas suspended.
But there still be almost another week’s wait until lines S1, S7 and S9 begin running once more. Being closely connected with the airport, the three lines were closed down immediately following the outbreak. 26 August is the date that has been given for the three lines’ resumption.
Line S1 is the metro link to Lukou Airport from Nanjing South Railway Station, while Line S7 is a continuation of S1, from Konggang Xincheng, just one stop after the airport. Line S9 takes off from S1 one stop before the airport at Xiangyu Lu Nan, to then cross Instagram favourite, Shijiu Lake, with its final destination being far-flung Gaochun.
In addition, 24 public bus routes between central and southern Jiangning and Nanjing’s downtown have resumed operations today. They are joined by five other bus routes between downtown and Qilin and Tangshan in eastern Jiangning.
26 August is also the date for inter-province and inter-city buses to begin again, albeit gradually. To facilitate this, nine of Nanjing’s bus stations shall be starting up operations then too.
Finally, our city’s plentiful scenic spots have been given the same date, 26 August, for when they may once again receive visitors.
