ANA Holdings Inc. said Thursday it will resume flights to Beijing and Shanghai from Tokyo's Haneda airport in April after a hiatus of about three years, betting on increased travel demand between the two countries after Japan eased its COVID-19 border controls.

The Japanese airline will operate a daily roundtrip flight between the two capitals from April 1, except for April 3 and 6. Flights to Shanghai Pudong International Airport and Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport will also resume from April 1, with a daily roundtrip flight planned for each route.

The resumption comes after the company suspended operations on the routes in March 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, along with other flights.

ANA has already resumed operations on routes that connect Narita airport, near Tokyo, with major Chinese cities including Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen.

Japan ended its blanket COVID-19 testing of visitors from mainland China earlier this month, after it tightened its coronavirus border restrictions on travelers from China last December and the following month following a surge of cases there.

Japan removed its cap on daily arrivals and its ban on individual, non-prearranged trips in October last year as part of efforts to revive the country's inbound tourism sector after it was battered by the pandemic.

Related coverage:

JAL, ANA both in the black in April-Dec. for 1st time since pandemic