Charter plane brings Chinese Queen’s University students to Belfast

Queen’s University chartered the 777 Boeing direct flight. Picture: John Walton/PA

A charter plane bringing hundreds of Chinese students to study in Northern Ireland has landed in Belfast.

The Qatar Airways flight arrived at Belfast International Airport from Beijing on Saturday afternoon with 400 students on board.

Queen’s University chartered the 777 Boeing direct flight to ensure the safety of their new and returning Chinese students in the midst of the pandemic.

All of the students who travelled on the flight were tested for Covid-19 before their departure.

A spokeswoman for the university said they were required to show proof of a negative Covid-19 test, taken no more than five days before the departure in order to board the flight.

“Upon arrival, students were transported directly via private transport to Queen’s accommodation and placed in safe and secure quarantine accommodation,” she said.

It is the second charter flight organised by the university in recent weeks.

Some 370 new and returning students arrived in Belfast on September 19 from Beijing in time for the start of the academic year beginning on September 21.

With international travel badly impacted by the pandemic, and with many people wary of transiting through major airports, the university said it decided to charter a dedicated, direct flight from China to “provide reassurance to both students and families” and to help “reduce anxiety levels for those making the trip”.

The university subsidised the cost of the flight so that students did not have to pay more than the cost of a normal commercial flight.

The students’ arrival comes as some students are isolating in Queen’s University accommodation after a Covid-19 outbreak.

The university said last week that a small number of students had tested positive for the virus at one accommodation site.