A total of 369 Chinese students started their self-quarantine life in the campus of Queen’s University Belfast, or QUB, after traveling from China to the United Kingdom by a flight chartered by the university Saturday.

A mother who sent her daughter off from Beijing said she was “very grateful” for the charter flight.

She said: “We were worried when my child got the student visa because the pandemic makes international travel difficult and risky. Then we heard the news that QUB will arrange a charter flight. We were so happy. And the ticket price is fair enough.”

According to the Higher Education Statistics Agency, last year the number of students from China studying in U.K. higher education surpassed 120,000 for the first time, accounting for more than one in every three non-European Union students. The total number of Chinese students studying in the U.K. is now more than 220,000, Chinese government figures show.

These students contribute 4 billion pounds (US$5.5b) to the U.K.’s economy per year in tuition fees and other spending such as accommodation, a BBC report said.

The report also said since the pandemic began, U.K. universities have been worried about major financial losses if Chinese students withdraw from their courses in the new academic year in the fall, amid concern over high COVID-19 infection rates and a high death toll in the U.K.

According to a forecast by the University of Manchester, cancellations can range from 12 percent to 61 percent, and “anxiety” over whether it is safe to travel to the U.K. outweighs other concerns.

A one-way ticket for the QUB charter flight was 616 pounds.

Students were required to take COVID-19 tests 48 hours before departure and needed to provide negative results to board the plane. After landing, they were transported directly from the airport to their campus and provided with quarantine accommodation.

More than 20 universities in the United Kingdom have joined together to charter flights for Chinese students to Britain. The U.K. had earlier declared it would treat Chinese students the same as those from the European Union for visa purposes. The flights through Hainan Airlines will ferry students from Chongqing to Manchester in time for the start of semester at the end of September.

Words to Learn 相关词汇

【包租】 bāozū charter rent a vehicle, especially an aircraft, for a special use and not as part of a regular service

【大流行病】dà liúxíngbìng pandemic an outbreak of a prevalent disease around the world

上周六，三百六十九名中国学生从中国乘坐贝尔法斯特女王大学的包机前往英国，之后开始了他们在该大学的自我隔离生活。

一位将女儿从北京送走的母亲说，她“非常感谢”这次包机。

她说：“女儿拿到学生签证时，我们很担心，因为疫情让国际旅行变得困难和危险。然后我们听说贝尔法斯特女王大学会安排包机。我们很高兴，票价也很合理。

英国高等教育统计局的数据显示，去年，在英国高校留学的中国学生人数首次超过12万，占非欧盟学生总数的三分之一以上。中国政府的数据显示，目前在英国留学的中国学生总数已超过22万。

据英国广播公司报道，包括学费和住宿费等其他消费在内，这些留学生每年为英国经济的贡献达到40亿英镑（约55亿美元）。

报道中还提到，自疫情暴发以来，英国大学一直担心，如果中国学生因担心英国的新冠肺炎高感染率和死亡人数而在秋季新学年退学，会造成重大经济损失。

根据曼彻斯特大学的预测，退学率可能在12%到61%之间，而对去英国旅行是否安全的“焦虑”超过了其他担忧。

包机的单程票价为616英镑。

学生们需在起飞前48小时内进行新冠病毒检测，并在登机时提供阴性结果。飞机着陆后，直接将他们从机场送往学校，学校将提供隔离住宿。

英国已有20多所高校联合包机接中国留学生返英。英国早些时候宣布，将给予中国学生与欧盟学生相同的签证待遇。海南航空公司的航班将把中国留学生从重庆送往曼彻斯特，以赶上9月底开始的新学期。

(chinadaily.com.cn)