Economy seats sell out for business-class fares as travellers fleeing a worsening Covid-19 pandemic bid for limited flights to China

Air fares to mainland China soared in the past few weeks when the coronavirus crisis escalated from a regional outbreak into a global pandemic, as desperate travellers rushed for limited seats on the few carriers that were still flying to the country amid a widening circle of global quarantines and travel ban.

The average price of air tickets from Italy, Spain, Sweden, the United States, and Iran – several countries with the fastest rising cases – rose by about 150 per cent on March 15, compared with the March 1 average, according to data by Trip.com Group, China’s largest online ticket agent. The average fares to China from Japan, South Korea, Singapore, New Zealand and Australia rose at different levels compared with last year, Trip.com said in response to an inquiry by South China Morning Post.

“The increases in bookings and prices are due to insufficient supply caused by large-scale, and even complete, suspensions by global airlines,” said Yu Zhanfu, transport expert and partner at the consultancy Roland Berger. Surging fares during the global pandemic, “no doubt the most severe crisis for the aviation industry in modern history,” will not improve airlines’ financial performance, he said.

Mason Quan, a student from Beijing at a Midwestern US college, paid 34,000 yuan (US$4,787) for an economy class ticket on Air China back to the mainland on Monday, almost five times the normal price. “After our school said next term all classes will be taken online, I decided to return home,” he said.

Jenny Liu had to pay 30 per cent more for a business class ticket on EVA Air last week to Shanghai via Taipei from New York, currently a Covid-19 hotspot with the highest number of confirmed cases in a rapidly escalating health crisis in the US. “I was worried about whether I would receive the best treatment if I was infected, or fell sick,” she said.