With Covid-19 under control and travel curbs eased, airfares in China bounce back to pre-pandemic levels

Name: Travel may resume slowly ‘in 3-6 months’ with pandemic limits, says Hong Kong tourism chief
Uploaded: 2021-03-26T07:13:03.000Z
Duration: 9 min 33 s
Description: Travel may resume slowly ‘in 3-6 months’ with pandemic limits, says Hong Kong tourism chief

Average prices for an economy seat during the April 3-5 Ching Ming Festival have rebounded to 96 per cent of 2019 levels, according to data from Ctrip

Chinese carriers are scheduled to operate 20.7 per cent more domestic flights from April to October compared with 2019, according to data provider Flight Master

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Demand for air travel is seen increasing in China as coronavirus cases ebb and restrictions are eased. Photo: AP Photo

Reuters

Published: 3:13pm, 26 Mar 2021Updated: 3:14pm, 26 Mar 2021

Widely watched airfares in China are recovering to pre-pandemic levels as domestic tourists lead a patchy air travel recovery, scattering crumbs of hope to a shattered global travel sector.

With international markets like Europe still in partial lockdown, the global tourism industry’s attention is riveted on China’s new travel patterns as it brings Covid-19 under control and lifts curbs on movement.

The Chinese domestic market quietly overtook the once-dominant US market in size during the pandemic, but multiple coronavirus outbreaks before last month’s Lunar New Year halted the rebound and could lead to first-quarter losses.

Now, with temporary testing and quarantine restrictions once again lifted, average prices for an economy seat during the April 3-5 Ching Ming Festival, or tomb-sweeping holiday, have rebounded to 96 per cent of 2019 levels, according to data from Ctrip.

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Travel may resume slowly ‘in 3-6 months’ with pandemic limits, says Hong Kong tourism chief

Economy-class airfares for trips over the Labour Day holiday in early May have risen 11 per cent compared with 2019 levels, said Ctrip, run by online travel giant Trip.com Group.