On February 28, the United States and Israel conducted joint airstrikes on multiple locations in Iran, and Iran retaliated accordingly. Amid the conflict, a large number of foreign nationals fled Iran, with online rumors circulating about exorbitantly high flight ticket prices from Damascus, the capital of Syria, to Shanghai. The highest reported price even reached several million Chinese yuan.
On February 28, images shared by netizens showed varying prices for flight tickets from Damascus to Shanghai, ranging from hundreds of thousands to nearly 5.5 million yuan. Some jokingly commented that the amount could buy a house in mainland China.
According to a report by the “Daily Economic News,” following the massive attacks on Iran by the U.S. and Israel, ticket prices for flights from Damascus to Shanghai’s Pudong Airport surged to tens of thousands to over 3.82 million yuan per ticket on a ticketing platform app on February 28 local time.
Prior to the attacks on Iran, flights from Damascus to Shanghai, such as those operated by Xiamen Airlines, cost less than 3,000 yuan, while flights with airlines like Emirates and Malaysia Airlines were around 10,000 yuan.
Ticketing platforms no longer offer flights from Damascus to Beijing or Shanghai on March 1 and 2, with Turkish Airlines flights to Beijing or Shanghai starting from March 3 priced between 43,000 to 48,000 yuan one way.
An article in the “Xiaoxiang Morning Post” mentioned that on the Ctrip app, it was impossible to book flights from Damascus to Shanghai from February 28 to March 8, with the platform showing “no flights meeting the criteria.”
When queried about the accuracy of the reported million-yuan ticket prices, customer service confirmed the absence of flights from February 28 to March 8 and revealed flights starting from March 9, with the cheapest flight in March priced at 1,899 yuan.
Regarding the previously reported million-yuan prices, customer service stated they needed to verify further. On the evening of February 28, Ctrip customer service informed that flights from Damascus to Shanghai after March 4 could be purchased for 15,201 yuan. As for the earlier astronomical prices, customer service said, “There is currently no specific information available; further internal investigations will be conducted.”
Checking with Tongcheng, flights from Damascus to Shanghai were sold out on February 28, but flights to nearby cities like Nanjing could be purchased for under ten thousand yuan. Flights from Damascus to Shanghai on March 1 were available, with the most expensive ticket priced at 9,834 yuan.
On the Fliggy platform, there were no flights available from Damascus to Shanghai on February 28, but on March 1, prices ranged from over three thousand yuan to over ten thousand yuan.
The decision for evacuees to depart from Damascus rather than Tehran is intricately linked to considerations of geopolitical safety. Due to the joint U.S.-Israeli strikes, Imam Khomeini International Airport (IKA) in Tehran was either under military control or closed for airspace security reasons. Flying over missile- and interception-prone areas would be highly risky for civilian flights.
“Exiting by land” became the only viable option. For Chinese businessmen, engineers, and technical personnel in Iran, crossing into the ally country of Syria was both a psychologically secure choice and a practical route. Damascus, acting as a satellite hub for Iran, remained untouched by direct airstrikes and offered air routes back to China, serving as a transit point for evacuation.
On March 1, the Consular Department of the Chinese Foreign Ministry issued a reminder via official social media platforms for Chinese citizens in Iran to evacuate as soon as possible.
For the local Chinese population, crossing the border to reach Damascus and then seeking flights back to China was deemed the most feasible escape plan both psychologically and practically.