After the end of the Chinese New Year holiday, airfare prices in China have seen a significant drop, with airlines across the country significantly lowering ticket prices for popular cities like Beijing and Shanghai. Some tickets are even priced at less than a tenth of their original cost.
According to reports from the Xinjing News on February 25th, data from aviation and travel big data analytics show that the average price of domestic flights in China from February 24th (the eighth day of the Lunar New Year) to March 13th has dropped by approximately 13% compared to the average ticket prices during the Chinese New Year holiday in 2026. On various online travel agency platforms in mainland China, many flight tickets are priced at less than 10% of their original cost. For instance, on February 27th, the lowest fare for a China Eastern Airlines flight from Shanghai Pudong to Chengdu Shuangliu was 380 yuan; on the same day, the ticket to Wuhan Tianhe Airport from Shanghai Pudong on China Eastern Airlines started at 249 yuan, while the ticket to Qingdao Jiaodong from Shanghai Pudong on China Southern Airlines was priced at 240 yuan.
In a report by the 21st Century Economic Herald on February 25th, it was noted that compared to the Chinese New Year holiday period, the average ticket prices for flights departing from Beijing had dropped by about 30%, from Shanghai by about 35%, and from Guangzhou by about 31%. Many flights departing from Shanghai to various destinations were priced at less than 200 yuan. Data from Fliggy, a comprehensive travel service platform under Alibaba Group, showed that ticket prices for routes like Shanghai to Haikou, Shanghai to Sanya, and Shanghai to Beihai had dropped to below 200 yuan. Meanwhile, routes such as Beijing to Xi’an, Beijing to Qionghai, Beijing to Wuhan, and Beijing to Sanya had tickets priced around 300 yuan available. Data from Qunar Travel indicated that the average ticket prices for domestic flights in China peaked on February 23rd and had since decreased by over 50%, reaching the lowest point by March 13th. The discounted ticket prices for off-peak travel are expected to continue until the end of March.
The Xinjing News pointed out that despite the significant discounts on airfare, there have not been extremely low-priced tickets like those priced at 9 yuan or 99 yuan. This is mainly due to the Civil Aviation Administration of China imposing restrictions on airlines offering excessively low prices.