Air ticket bookings jump and prices soar as China further relaxes Covid-19 rules

The average price of an air ticket in China jumped 30% last week. Ticket purchases on flights to and from a number of major Chinese cities have rocketed in recent days as many places begin to ease their Covid-19 requirements for people entering from other provinces. And as a result, prices are on the increase.

Air ticket bookings for flights in and out of Guangzhou, southern Guangdong province nearly tripled on Dec. 3 and Dec. 4 from a week earlier, according to online travel platform Qunar. While reservations on planes flying out of Zhengzhou, central Henan province, tripled and those flying in almost quintupled. And those on flights leaving Chongqing in southwest China soared almost 11 times.

Prices have also surged as demand recovers. The average price of an air ticket jumped 30% last week from the week before, according to online travel agency Tongcheng E-long. This is 16% higher than during the week-long National Day holiday in October, a peak travel period.

But, overall, the number of flights remains low, at just 22.1% of total scheduled flights, as there are still many places that continue to strictly implement Covid-19 travel restrictions. For the week Nov. 28 to Dec. 4, the number of flights slumped 18.8% from the previous week and 61.5% year on year to 22,000, according to Flight Master data. This is also a drop of 77% from the same period in 2019.