Following the Chinese New Year, ticket prices within mainland China have taken a significant plunge, with prices on several popular routes dropping by over 80%.
According to a report by China’s state-run media CCTV on March 12th, data from a travel platform shows that after the Chinese New Year, the prices of tickets from major cities like Beijing and Shanghai to Sanya in Hainan have seen a decrease of over 60%. Post Lantern Festival, discounts on domestic flight tickets have started to emerge, with prices from Nanning in Guangxi dropping noticeably in recent days.
Investigations by journalists across various travel platforms reveal that in the past few days, ticket prices from Nanning to various popular tourist destinations have experienced a significant drop, with the lowest reaching around 200 yuan. For instance, a flight from Guilin to Sanya is now priced as low as 199 yuan.
China’s tourism and hospitality industry network new media outlet “Maidian” posted on its official Weibo account that on February 28th, domestic airline ticket prices saw a substantial decrease, with tickets on many popular routes from hub cities like Guangzhou and Shenzhen in South China plummeting by over 80%.
According to data from Ctrip, the average price of domestic flight tickets during the post-Spring Festival travel period has dropped to around 950 yuan, a 13% decrease compared to the Chinese New Year holiday. Specifically, ticket prices from Guangzhou have dropped by approximately 31%, with multiple routes offering tickets in the range of 200 to 300 yuan. For instance, a one-way ticket from Guangzhou to Changbaishan now costs 504 yuan, marking an 82% decrease, while a one-way ticket from Shenzhen to Lanzhou has plummeted to 270 yuan, also an 82% decrease. Popular tourist routes like Shenzhen to Sanya and Haikou have seen prices dropping from several thousand yuan before the Chinese New Year to the range of 200 to 300 yuan.
Data from Tongcheng Travel shows that the average price of domestic flight tickets in the week after the festival has nearly halved compared to the peak during the Chinese New Year holiday, with some popular routes experiencing price drops of up to 80% – 90%.
An earlier report by China Business News on February 26th highlighted that immediately after the Chinese New Year holiday, there was a significant drop in ticket prices. Data from online travel platforms indicated that the average price of domestic flight tickets decreased by over 50%, with some routes seeing price drops exceeding 60%.
On February 27th, the platform “Qunar” displayed that the lowest ticket prices for travel from Beijing to various popular tourist destinations were below 400 yuan. For instance, the lowest ticket price for a Beijing to Sanya flight was 340 yuan, Beijing to Chengdu at 302 yuan, and Beijing to Harbin at just 287 yuan.
It was reported that ticket prices in the direction of Hainan have also seen a substantial decrease. From now until the end of March, direct flights from Beijing to Sanya are priced as low as 320 yuan (excluding taxes), marking a 66% reduction compared to the Chinese New Year holiday period. Similarly, prices for flights from Beijing to Haikou have dropped to 310 yuan (excluding taxes) with an average reduction of 58%; while the average price for a direct flight from Shanghai to Sanya is 479 yuan, down by 63%; and from Shanghai to Haikou at 410 yuan, down by 61%. Additionally, popular routes like Guangzhou to Sanya, Guilin to Sanya, Chongqing to Haikou, Chengdu to Haikou, Shenzhen to Haikou, as well as Guangzhou to Haikou have seen ticket prices fall below 500 yuan.