In an effort to ease air traffic around Beijing, the Civil Aviation Administration announced a new ¡°Olympic branch¡± route on April 14 that will remove Beijing as a stopover for flights between Europe and Shanghai, Guangzhou and Hong Kong.
It is expected that 70-80 fewer flights will come through Beijing each day as a result of the route. They will instead make stops in cities in Mongolia and south central and eastern China, such as Hefei, Zhoukou, Zhengzhou, Taiyuan and Hohhot. About 475 flights will use the Olympic branch route each week..
In addition to relieving Beijing Airport of traffic, the new route also serves an environmental purpose. By shortening the distance of some flights by 111 km, around 26,000 tons of fuel will be saved, cutting carbon dioxide emissions by 83,000 tons.
