In 2025, the annual peak of returning home in China is set to kick off on January 14. Many online travel booking platforms have already opened flight bookings for the homecoming period, with ticket prices dropping significantly by up to nearly 70%, sparking a wave of discussions and complaints among netizens.
According to reports by the City Express, data from the Air Travel Verticals indicates that as of December 24, 2024, over 2.44 million domestic flight tickets and more than 1.12 million international flight tickets have been booked for the upcoming Chinese traditional New Year holiday (from January 28 to February 4, 2025), representing a year-on-year increase of about 37%. The three days leading up to New Year’s Eve are expected to see a peak in flight bookings.
In terms of ticket prices, data from flight management agencies shows that as of December 23, 2024, the average economy class ticket prices for domestic flights during the Chinese New Year holiday period in 2025 have decreased by 2.2% compared to the previous year. Similarly, data from Ctrip Travel reveals a slight decline in ticket prices for major flight routes.
For example, flights departing from Hangzhou to popular cities like Kunming, Sanya, Haikou, and Guangzhou have seen their lowest prices ranging from 200 to 290 Chinese Yuan. The prices for flights from Hangzhou to Kunming and Sanya have dropped by 64%, to Haikou by 63%, and to Guangzhou by 61%.
According to Liu Ting, a researcher at Qunar Big Data Research Institute, flights departing from major cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen still maintain relatively higher ticket prices. On the other hand, flights departing from cities like Qingdao, Wuhan, and Xi’an have seen ticket prices drop to between 40% to 60% off. Return flights compared to these popular routes have reduced even further to around 20%, such as the Beijing-Sanya and Hangzhou-Sanya routes, with prices on New Year’s Eve at about 22%.
Various platforms are providing money-saving advice to consumers for ticket purchases, including buying in reverse, avoiding peak times, or purchasing in advance for better deals. For instance, in the week before the Chinese New Year holiday, flights from Xi’an, Chengdu, Chongqing, Zhengzhou, and other cities to Guangzhou and Shenzhen are generally priced around 30% off, with average prices staying below 600 Chinese Yuan, offering good value for money.
While the topic has gained traction on social media, many netizens remain skeptical.
One user, ‘honest581’, commented: “Don’t worry, the return tickets will make up for it with compounded interest.”
Another user, ‘nanzoey’, expressed dissatisfaction: “Outbound tickets are cheap, but inbound tickets are expensive.”
And ‘幸福融聯’ added: “Do you remember what happened last Chinese New Year? The outbound ticket to Hainan was just over a hundred Yuan, but the return ticket cost thousands. It’s been less than a year, let’s not forget that, shall we?”
In mid-February last year (15th to 17th), as the Chinese New Year holiday season came to a close, many tourists in Sanya, Hainan began to feel anxious as the prices of return tickets soared due to lack of early booking. Several flights only had business class seats left, priced anywhere from thousands to tens of thousands of Yuan.
At that time, relevant departments in Hainan and airline companies responded by stating that by February 17, tickets from Sanya to major domestic cities were nearly sold out, recommending visitors to depart from surrounding cities like Haikou and Boao.
“I could have traveled to Europe with that price,” a tourist from Beijing remarked, reflecting on last year’s holiday season where flights from Sanya to Beijing during the final two days of the New Year holiday cost nearly 10,000 Yuan or more. Based on multiple flight booking platforms, for example, tickets from Sanya to Xi’an from the 15th to the 17th were already sold out in the economy class, with business class prices mostly exceeding 17,000 Yuan. A netizen from Xi’an mentioned purchasing a ticket from Sanya to Seoul, South Korea, with a transfer to Xi’an, for just over 3,000 Yuan the whole journey.