According to border officials, the airport now handles an average of more than 26 international flights per week, up 8.3 percent year-on-year. To cope with the surge, authorities have redeployed officers from Wuhan, the capital of Hubei, to support operations at the Yichang airport.

By Sunday, the airport had handled more than 32,000 inbound and outbound passengers this year, including around 15,000 foreign nationals. Most foreign visitors arrived for tourism, local authorities said.

Wuhan Tianhe International Airport has also stepped up connectivity, resuming routes to Vientiane, Laos, and Jakarta, Indonesia between April 10 and 12. By April 16, border inspection authorities in Wuhan had processed more than 443,000 inbound and outbound passengers, including over 78,000 foreign nationals, up 12.2 percent year-on-year.