Over the next two months, about 20,000 Chinese students from all over the country are expected to fly from Chongqing to Manchester or Bristol, England, on Hainan Airlines.

Chen Qianyu was one of the 74 passengers on the charter flight. She will start her studies at the University of Liverpool as an actuarial mathematics major.

"The charter flight experience was great, and many seats were empty," she said.

After she arrived in Manchester, she took a cab reserved by the university and went directly back to school. Now she is staying in a studio on campus for a 14-day quarantine.

Wang Wenxin, who is pursuing a doctorate at the University of Leeds, took the same flight back to the UK. She had returned to China in late December.

"The pandemic has affected our way of teaching and travel, but most Chinese students are still sticking to their study plans," she said.

"I followed the news closely and made a lot of preparations to maintain both my physical and mental health before going back to school."