The National Day holiday has ended, the travel peak has subsequently receded, and airfare prices have taken a dive.

From major source cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, the bare ticket prices on many routes have dropped to as low as two or three hundred yuan. Reporters learned from online travel platforms that after the holiday, domestic airfare prices have fallen significantly. Data monitoring shows that from October 9 to 31, the average paid price for domestic tickets was more than 30% lower than during the National Day holiday.

Specifically, on routes departing from major source cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou in Guangdong, the bare ticket prices for many popular destinations have already fallen into the range of two to three hundred yuan: Beijing to Lanzhou, Gansu is as low as only 200 yuan, Shanghai to Lijiang is also as low as 200 yuan, Beijing to Urumqi, Xinjiang is at least 300 yuan, and Guangzhou to Chengdu, Sichuan is at least 309 yuan. Even after adding the airport construction fee and fuel surcharge, such prices are still cost-effective.

A passenger told reporters that during the National Day holiday, they had checked round-trip tickets from Beijing to Urumqi, when the price was as high as more than 4,000 yuan. Considering the ticket price, they moved their travel plan to after the holiday and eventually bought tickets departing on October 13 and returning on October 20. Even including the airport construction fee and fuel surcharge, the total round-trip price was only about 1,000 yuan.

Fuel surcharge to rise starting from the 10th

Recently, several airlines have notified that starting from October 10, the domestic route fuel surcharge will be increased: passengers on segments over 800 kilometers will be charged 90 yuan each, and those on segments of 800 kilometers or less will be charged 50 yuan, up by 20 yuan and 10 yuan respectively. Tickets issued on or before October 9 will still be charged according to the original standard. That is to say, passengers who buy tickets on October 9 can still save another 10 to 20 yuan per ticket.

Autumn break takes over, family travel bookings rise

In November, primary and secondary school students in many parts of the country will have their autumn break, and family travel is heating up again. Many passengers have already begun to lock in low-priced post-holiday tickets in advance. Data shows that for forward bookings of tickets departing from cities such as Chengdu in Sichuan, Nanjing in Jiangsu, Beijing, and Shanghai for October 15 to November 15, booking volume rose 40% month-on-month.