Peak travel season is approaching; travelers are purchasing holiday flight tickets in advance.

China’s civil aviation summer–autumn flight season in 2026 will begin on March 29, and with spring-holiday policies in various regions and expectations of higher fuel surcharges piling on, many passengers have recently bought flight tickets in advance to take advantage of the holidays and travel to the mountains and the sea—experiencing springtime outing tours, flower-viewing tours, and parent-child trips. As for routes, airlines are collectively “adding new routes,” and many regional feeder airports across multiple locations are expected to see peak passenger volumes during the May Day holiday and throughout the summer season.

May Day holiday ticket demand heats up

A reporter from Shanghai Securities News, after checking an OTA platform, found that during the May Day holiday, flight ticket prices have risen to different degrees compared with earlier periods. Ctrip data shows that the number of flight bookings for travel during the May Day holiday has increased year over year by nearly 20%.

According to Ctrip data, as of now, the top 10 most popular May Day holiday destinations are Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Kunming, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Urumqi, and Nanjing. Judging by the growth rate of advance bookings, during the May Day holiday, tickets for Wenzhou, Ningbo, Guangzhou, Nanning, Hefei, Shanghai, Yining, Shenzhen, Zhengzhou, and Xishuangbanna have shown the fastest year-over-year increases, with all gains exceeding 25%.

Ctrip’s Big Data Research Institute analyzes that in previous May Day holidays, flight ticket bookings usually started about two weeks in advance. This year, driven by expectations of rising fuel surcharges, the number of passengers locking in May Day holiday tickets well ahead of time has clearly increased. It is expected that in the coming week, the number of passengers booking May Day holiday and summer-season tickets will continue to rise.

Spring holiday with consecutive breaks boosts ticket sales in the off-season

This year’s Qingming holiday (April 4 to 6), together with spring-holiday measures rolled out in many places across the country for primary and secondary schools, generally adopts a “3-day spring holiday + Qingming holiday” consecutive-break pattern, jointly pushing a significant increase in travel demand from April 1 to April 6.

The reporter learned from Flight Butler that the spring-holiday policy has been implemented across many regions nationwide, and in 13 cities, the spring holiday has been seamlessly connected with the Qingming holiday. From April 1 to April 6, in most cities where spring holidays are promoted, the planned number of flights increased steadily year over year; among them, the flight-volume growth in Changzhou, Chengdu, and Nanjing ranked among the top.

“This data confirms the direct pull that spring-holiday policies have on aviation capacity demand. It effectively fills the idle-capacity gap that exists in the traditional off-season, turning the April off-season into a new minor peak period for civil aviation travel.” A Flight Butler DAST expert told the Shanghai Securities News reporter that the spring holiday provides an institutional foundation for the large-scale release of travel demand. Moreover, because the policy is targeted at students in the compulsory education stage, it directly unlocks a large incremental volume from families’ group travel, becoming the core underlying logic behind growth in civil aviation demand.

Many families choose to leave earlier to kick off the spring-holiday trip. According to Ctrip data, in terms of numbers, the number of passengers flying on April 1 is higher than on April 4 (the first day of the Qingming holiday). Office workers, meanwhile, more often choose to travel on April 3 (the day before the Qingming holiday), forming a second departure peak. In addition, with the combined influx of family travelers and office workers, April 6 sees a return-trip peak.

In terms of ticket prices, the average price for departures on April 1 is lower than on April 3. Taking popular routes as an example, on the Chengdu–Sanya route, the lowest base fare for departures on April 1 is about 800 yuan. While this is higher month over week compared with last week, it is still roughly half lower than during the May Day holiday.

“City-level civil aviation ticket pricing for the spring-holiday period shows an overall trend of broad-based increases. Industry profitability room improves significantly. By breaking the ‘price involution’ dilemma of civil aviation in the off-season and supported by demand on the demand side, route ticket-price elasticity has been fully activated, providing strong support for improved operating performance for airlines.” The expert mentioned above said that spring-holiday travel demand is closely tied to scenarios such as culture and tourism and study trips, setting higher standards for cross-industry coordination and product innovation capabilities in the civil aviation industry.

Smaller airports may迎来 a “peak season”

From rapeseed flower seas to resplendent cherry blossoms, from misty rain in Jiangnan to ancient sites in central China… as domestic route networks continue to expand and improve across the whole country, passengers can use regional feeder airports to reach a wider variety of travel destinations. This further opens up growth space in both lower-tier markets and feeder aviation.

An analysis by Ctrip’s Big Data Research Institute notes that the upcoming May Day holiday and the summer season are both peak travel periods. In particular, many smaller airports in Northwest China are expected to see a peak season. Looking at route changes across the summer–autumn flight season, increased flight frequencies at multiple smaller airports in Xinjiang are most evident. In addition, in Fujian Quanzhou, where tourism remains hot, the number of flights will also grow significantly.

On domestic route planning, major airlines are closely aligning with travel trends to add capacity. China Eastern has newly opened destinations focused on tourism markets such as Xinjiang, Yunnan, and Guangxi; the total number of newly planned domestic routes is 41, and the number of domestic routes to be increased in frequency will reach 65. Air China will open routes such as Beijing to Yulin, Hanzhong, and Jiaxing. China Southern will open multiple routes including Beijing Daxing to Yining, Korla, and Quanzhou. Juneyao Airlines is responding to spring and summer travel demand by opening 7 new routes, focusing on travel destinations with distinctive features of mountains-and-sea experiences. China Huawei Airlines is building multiple air corridors that connect Central China with the Yangtze River Delta, providing travelers with a wide range of options.

A relevant executive from China Huawei Airlines said that going forward, the company will continue optimizing its route network, improving the quality of travel services, and building a convenient, efficient, and comfortable travel experience for passengers—injecting new momentum into local economies, tourism, and cultural exchanges.