China overflight permits

01The rules and who issues permits

Foreign civil aircraft are governed by the State Council's Rules Governing the Operation of Foreign Civil Aircraft, last revised by Order No. 797 in December 2024. Non-scheduled flights need prior approval. The rules say the application is made through diplomatic channels at least ten days before the flight, unless a bilateral agreement provides otherwise. The permit itself comes from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC).

In practice, overflight permits for business aviation have needed at least 96 hours, and landing permits seven to ten working days. Revisions need around two business days, and the CAAC may change approved slots.

02Information the application must include

Under the rules, the application states:

• Aircraft registration, type and weights, and the operator's details
• Purpose of flight and call signs
• Numbers of crew and passengers, and the cargo
• The pilot-in-command's weather minima
• Itinerary, dates and the route within China

03Entry corridors and Chinese crew

Flights must cross the border through specified corridors or entry and exit points, and call ATC 15 to 20 minutes before crossing; direct routings are not accepted. Non-scheduled flights inside China must also carry crew assigned by the civil aviation authority, including a navigator and a radio operator, unless the clearance says otherwise. In practice this mostly affects flights to domestic, military or non-entry airports.

04What changed in 2025 and 2026

Two recent changes affect business aviation operators:

• From 1 March 2025, business aircraft must be registered in the CAAC's Preflight system, with the registration, airworthiness, radio station, insurance and noise certificates, the cabin layout and an authorisation letter. Registration has to be complete at least five working days before the first landing permit application.
• From 1 April 2026, CAAC rejects business aviation landing and overflight permit applications unless ATC charges are paid in advance or a Letter of Guarantee is registered with it.

If you are flying to China for the first time, allow time for the Preflight registration before the permit request itself.

05How we handle Chinese permits

Send us the aircraft, routing and schedule. Our OCC checks the current Chinese requirements for your flight type, prepares the request, files it and follows it up until the permit number is issued. We then pass it to the crew and the flight plan, and revise it if the schedule moves.

We arrange the permits for the rest of the routing in the same trip file, with overflight permits for the countries you cross and landing permits at your destination.