The first commercial airline flights in one month have taken off from Xian in western China as the government eased travel curbs imposed after a coronavirus outbreak ahead of next months Winter Olympics in Beijing, reports AFP.

Seven planes took off, according to the website of Xian Xianyang International Airport. It said four were due to arrive Sunday.

Access to Xian, a city of 13 million people about 1,000 kilometres southwest of Beijing, was suspended on December 22 following an outbreak attributed to the coronavirus' Delta variant.