Asiana Airlines Inc., South Korea's second-biggest carrier, resumed its Incheon-Beijing route Saturday after suspending it for more than two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

An Asiana plane carrying 141 passengers left Incheon International Airport in the morning and arrived at Beijing Capital International Airport, the company said.

Before the pandemic, the Incheon-Beijing route was a key route between the two countries used by some 1.1 million passengers annually.

It was suspended in March 2020 under the Chinese government's COVID-19 restrictions.

Asiana said it will offer one flight a week on the route every Saturday and consider increasing the number of flights as the Chinese government has shortened the mandatory quarantine period for overseas arrivals to 10 days from two to three weeks.

Source: Yonhap News Agency