China Also Enjoys Golden Week... Shanghai-Seoul Route Tops International Flight Bookings Within China

8-Day Holiday from 29th
1 Million International Flight Bookings
Shanghai-Seoul Ranks No.1 in Preference

As China enters an eight-day golden holiday starting from the 29th, Chinese tourists are expected to flock to Seoul during the holiday period. The 'Shanghai-Seoul' route has been identified as the most booked international flight route by Chinese travelers for this holiday.

Travelers at Beijing Airport
Photo by Yonhap News

On the 25th (local time), Bloomberg cited the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), reporting that more than 21 million people in China are expected to use flights during the holiday, indicating a surge in the Chinese travel market.

This year, the Mid-Autumn Festival (September 29) and National Day (October 1?6) overlap, resulting in a longer holiday than usual and increased demand for long-distance travel. The CAAC recently forecasted that about 14,000 domestic flights will operate daily during this holiday period.

Additionally, overseas travel is regaining momentum after Chinese authorities lifted the ban on group tours last August.

According to Umetrip, an online flight service provider, international flight bookings from China during this holiday are approaching one million. Overseas travel bookings on Trip.com, a Chinese online travel service platform, have increased twentyfold compared to last year’s holiday.

Popular overseas travel destinations include Thailand, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, and the United Kingdom.

In particular, according to Chinese aviation data company Flight Master, based on flight ticket bookings, the most preferred Asian destination for Chinese travelers during this holiday is the 'Shanghai-Seoul' route. Following that are 'Shanghai-Tokyo' in second place, 'Beijing-Tokyo' third, 'Hangzhou-Osaka' fourth, and 'Beijing-Seoul' fifth, with Seoul appearing twice among the top five preferred destinations.

As travelers flock and booking competition intensifies, airfare on some popular routes has more than doubled. For example, the economy class fare on the 'Beijing-Chengdu' route rose to 1,800 yuan (about 330,000 won), a 2.6-fold increase from 680 yuan (about 125,000 won) on the 22nd. International flight fares are also reported to have roughly doubled.

According to data analysis firm ForwardKeys, 37% of travelers during this holiday plan to stay at their destinations for 6 to 8 nights, which is a 3 percentage point increase compared to the pre-COVID-19 period.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.