During this year’s May Day holiday, there was an unusual decline in passenger flow in China’s civil aviation industry, marking the first year-on-year decrease during the same period post-pandemic. At the same time, as the holiday came to an end, the prices of tickets for many popular air routes dropped rapidly, with some routes seeing ticket prices as low as two to three hundred yuan.
According to data released by the Ministry of Transport of the Communist Party of China, from May 1st to 5th, the total cross-regional personnel flow in China continued to increase, with railway and highway passenger flow both on the rise. However, the daily average number of civil aviation passengers was only 2.108 million, a decrease of 5.74% compared to the same period last year.
A report by “First Financial” on May 6th stated that this was the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic that there had been a year-on-year decline in passenger flow during the May Day holiday.
In addition to the decrease in passenger volume, the number of flights also decreased accordingly. According to data from the travel service platform Flight Manager, the average daily number of flights during this year’s May Day holiday was about 15,700, a decrease of 2.6% compared to last year, with the decrease in domestic flights exceeding international flights. Among China’s 41 major airports, 31 airports saw a year-on-year decrease in the volume of inbound and outbound flights, with 12 airports experiencing a decrease of more than 5%.
“First Financial” pointed out that this year, several places implemented a spring break for the first time, which dispersed the travel demand that used to concentrate around the May Day holiday. Some travel peaks have shifted earlier to the end of April. Data from another travel service platform, Travel Vertical, also indicated that the travel period for this year’s May Day holiday was extended, and the travel peak arrived earlier than in previous years.
In terms of ticket prices, data from Flight Manager’s DAST showed that the average price for domestic economy class air tickets during this year’s May Day holiday, including taxes, was around 925 yuan, an increase of 9.7% compared to last year. “First Financial” stated that the increase in ticket prices, including taxes, was mainly due to a significant increase in fuel surcharges starting from April 5th.
Regarding the reasons for the weakening of civil aviation passenger flow, “First Financial” quoted Professor Li Yanwei from the Civil Aviation University of China saying that the recent rise in aviation fuel prices is one of the important factors affecting civil aviation passenger flow. Li Yanwei stated that in April this year, without considering other cost increases, the proportion of fuel costs to total airline costs had risen to 55% to 70%.
Several airlines told “First Financial” that even with the addition of fuel surcharges, it would be difficult to fully cover the increase in fuel costs, and it is expected that more flights will experience a phenomenon of “selling more but losing more.”
However, after the conclusion of the May Day holiday, ticket prices quickly saw a significant decrease. According to Travel Vertical, by mid-May, flights from Shanghai to Sanya, Haikou, Qingdao, Quanzhou, and other destinations were offering tickets for as low as around 200 yuan; while flights from Beijing to Haikou, Xi’an, Yichang, and others were also selling tickets for around 300 yuan.