International flight ticket sales see consistent increase

After consistent recovery of international flights, inbound air ticket bookings have witnessed an 819 percent year-on-year growth and inbound traveling booking volume soared more than ten times, according to travel service provider Trip.com Group.

After the Civil Aviation Administration of China called for increasing international flights following market demand, Chinese airlines added more than 2,500 international flights for the Spring Festival travel rush that starts on Friday (January 26) and through March 5 this year.

As of January 22, inbound air ticket booking volume soared 819 percent in the 40-day rush period on year, and the booking for inbound trips for the same period surged more than ten times, according to statistics from Trip.com.

The travelers are mainly from countries including Japan, the US, South Korea, Malaysia, Australia, the UK, Canada, Vietnam, Germany and Thailand, and their most favored Chinese destinations being Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu of Sichuan province, Harbin in Heilongjiang province, Qingdao in Shandong province, Shenyang in Liaoning province, Fujian province's Xiamen and Chongqing, it added.

The recovery of capacity in cross-border flights has also helped to lower ticket prices, which is a major factor in travelers' decision-making, said Chen Bangguo, head of Trip.com's air ticket division for East China.

According to Chen, one-way inbound air tickets including tax are currently averaged at about 1,600 yuan each, lowered more than 60 percent year-on-year, but is still about 15 percent higher than that of 2019.

Trip.com will innovate inbound products by collaborating with civil aviation enterprises, to promote the further growth of the inbound tourism market in 2024, said Chen.