A sanitation worker cleans the ticketing area at Nanjing Lukou International Airport, where a COVID-19 outbreak was reported in August. Photo: VCG

China's domestic flight ticket prices have surged amid increasing demand for those planning to return to their hometown for Spring Festival, with booking volume expected to rise by over 70 percent over last month's levels.

The 2022 Spring Festival travel peak officially began on January 17 with 780,000 passengers boarding flights on the first day alone. During the week from January 10 to 16, the order volume of flight tickets has seen a 70 percent increase than the same period last month. 

As for ticket prices, Chen Li'nan, a representative from Chinese ticket booking platform Ctrip, said in a CCTV report that the average cost of travel during the 2022 Spring Festival travel peak would be around 800 yuan ($125.9), 40 percent higher than in 2021.

In terms of rail travel, a total of 280 million passenger trips are expected to be made throughout the travel peak, of which Beijing's regional rail network is expected to facilitate 8.98 million trips, with an estimated 9.1 million trips expected to be made through Shanghai's railway stations, according to transportation officials.

More than 1.18 billion trips are expected to be made across the country during the 40-day travel peak, a year-on-year increase of 35.6 percent. However, the risk of COVID-19 has added a heightened degree of uncertainty to this year travel rush.

In case of an outbreak, railway services will be immediately suspended or reduced, and flights will be adjusted dynamically in response, according to the latest anti-epidemic policy.

Global Times