BEIJING: When fuel surcharges on Chinese domestic flights rose on Sunday (April 5), Shrek Wang, a self-professed travel enthusiast, was unfazed.
Just a day earlier, he had bought more than 20 flights for about 10 trips till September 2026, locking in prices before the hike took effect.
“I usually make a rough plan of where I want to go over the year, so whenever I see suitable ticket prices, I’ll buy them. Since I knew the fuel surcharges were going to rise soon, I just planned ahead and made the purchases early,” said Wang, 31.
He works in research and development in the southern coastal city of Shenzhen, and travels within China for leisure once or twice a month.
By stockpiling his air tickets before the hike, he estimates he saved around 2,000 yuan (S$370), which is enough to fund another round trip. The most expensive return tickets he bought were for his trip to the north-eastern city of Shenyang for 1,340 yuan, he told The Straits Times.
Wang’s actions reflect the broader shift in China’s tourism consumption patterns, where the domestic travel demand remains robust despite weaker consumer sentiment.
On April 2, several Chinese airlines, including national carrier Air China, announced fuel surcharge hikes for domestic flights from April 5, as global oil prices have been climbing since the ongoing Iran war started in end-February and disrupted shipping through the crucial Strait of Hormuz.
The surcharges increased from 10 yuan to 60 yuan on flights up to 800km, and from 20 yuan to 120 yuan for flights over 800km.
Chinese netizens reacted with a mix of despair, resignation and humour to the surcharge hikes, with some lamenting that rising costs have made them think twice about their future travel plans.
One user even joked: “Even cars are now electric, why can’t high-tech airplanes take off with two giant power banks plugged in?”
But others, including Wang, rushed to secure cheaper flight tickets before the hikes.
Some of them took to Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu to share screenshots of multiple bookings across months and their tips on how to optimise routes for lower fares, drawing a mix of envy and admiration from other users who praised them for being savvy and quick to act.
Fuel is one of the largest operating expenses for carriers, typically accounting for 20 per cent to 30 per cent of costs. Higher prices are often passed on to passengers through surcharges, particularly on domestic routes which have thinner profit margins.
The latest fuel surcharge increase still falls below the historical peak in July 2022, when passengers paid 100 yuan on flights up to 800km and 200 yuan for flights over 800km. Then, it was sparked by a global energy price spike following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine earlier in the year.
That Chinese travellers are responding not by cancelling trips but by bringing forward bookings and optimising costs points to growing price sensitivity in an otherwise resilient travel market.
China is grappling with a slowing economy in recent years, with weak consumer confidence, a difficult job market and a prolonged property crisis making more households cautious about their spending.
Recent data from Chinese travel booking platform Qunar showed that flight bookings for the upcoming Labour Day public holiday from May 1 to 5 have increased nearly 20 per cent from the same period in 2025.
The spike in bookings in 2026 has also come earlier, compared with previous years when tickets were purchased about two weeks ahead of the holiday.
A Beijing-based businessman said he bought a return ticket to the south-western city of Kunming for the Labour Day holiday, along with three sets of open return tickets to the north-eastern city of Dalian, as he flies there for business regularly.
“I don’t foresee the fuel surcharges being lowered any time soon, so I might as well stock up on flights that I will definitely use. I’m not buying excessively or buying for the sake of buying,” said the man, who declined to give his name to maintain privacy.
Dr Linjia Zhang, an associate professor of economics at Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, said that Chinese travellers tend to anticipate cost changes and adapt proactively as an economically efficient strategy.
In practice, this means travellers may adjust the timing of booking, choose nearer or more cost-efficient destinations, shorten trips or reallocate spending within their travel budgets, he said.
“It reflects a more mature consumption pattern where price sensitivity co-exists with a sustained willingness to travel,” said Dr Zhang, whose research focuses on tourism economics.
“From a cultural perspective, this also reflects a longstanding preference for financial prudence and forward planning,” he added.
While travellers may not fully understand airline cost structures, fuel surcharges have an outsized impact because they are clearly itemised, making price increases more visible to consumers, said Dr Zhang.
For long-haul international trips, such surcharges may be noticeable but not decisive, as they make up a smaller share of the total air ticket prices. However, for short domestic trips, they can materially affect affordability, he said.
In recent years, China’s domestic tourism demand has remained robust, supported by rising mobility, pent-up travel demand and the continued expansion of the middle-income group.
But while people are travelling more frequently, they are spending less on each trip, making them more inclined to seek out cheaper flight options and lock in lower prices where possible.
During the three-day Qingming Festival from April 4 to 6, total domestic travel spending rose 6.6 per cent from the same period in 2025, but per-trip spending largely remained unchanged at about 455 yuan.
A similar pattern was seen during the nine-day Spring Festival in February, when both total spending and traveller numbers hit record highs, but per-person spending declined.
For travellers like Wang, who takes about 15 trips a year, it is less about worrying about rising airfares and more about finding ways to fly more cheaply to feed his travel bug.
“Since I’m based in Shenzhen, I have multiple airport options such as Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Macau, Guangzhou and even Huizhou, so I’ll compare prices across nearby airports and choose the most suitable one,” he said.
“I don’t have a strict budget, so it depends on my mood. After all, happiness doesn’t have a budget,” he said. - The Straits Times/ANN
