The civil aviation industry has recently seen a peak in return travel for students and other passengers, but airfares have not risen significantly; in fact, some routes have seen discounted tickets. A search on online travel platforms for flights from Beijing to Shenzhen on August 31st revealed that even the lowest fares for same-day bookings were around 500 yuan, while flights from Beijing to Shanghai, Chengdu, and Hangzhou were all around 300 yuan.

Xue Bingbing, a researcher at Tongcheng Research Institute, explained that the return peak of the summer travel season has not driven up ticket prices. Airlines deployed significant capacity this summer, and there has been no noticeable reduction. From a demand perspective, the return passenger flow mainly consists of students, representing localized point-to-point demand. Furthermore, the start dates of some universities are quite dispersed. Therefore, from an overall market perspective, supply and demand are not strained, making now a good time for off-peak travel.

Industry insiders say that September airfares may be at their lowest point in the coming months. In the next two weeks, there will be many discounted tickets for 200 yuan for flights departing from Beijing, whether to Zhengzhou, Changsha, Xiamen, Qingdao, or Kunming. A large number of tickets with discounts of up to 10% will appear on the platform. If the departure point is changed to Shanghai, Chengdu, or Guangzhou, tickets for 200 yuan to various destinations across the country will also be readily available.

Zhao Chao, co-chief analyst of the transportation industry at Changjiang Securities, said that airfares will continue to fall to some extent in the next one to two weeks, and the absolute passenger volume will also see a significant decline after the peak season. September is traditionally a low season with relatively abundant capacity, and overall airfares are likely to remain at a low level before the National Day holiday.

Reporters also observed that many consumers have already begun booking flights for the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays in advance. Data from online travel platforms shows that the demand for booking holiday flights a month in advance is 21% higher than the same period last year, and overall travel enthusiasm is higher than in previous years. (Source: CCTV Finance)