With the National Day holiday coming to an end, the travel peak has subsided accordingly, and airfares have taken a sharp dive.

Departing from major source markets such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, the base fares on many routes have dropped to as low as two or three hundred yuan.

Domestic airfares fall notably after the holiday

According to online travel platforms, domestic airfares have dropped significantly after the holiday period.

Data monitoring shows that from October 9 to 31, the average paid price for domestic airline tickets was more than 30% lower than during the "October 1" holiday.

Looking at specific routes, departing from major source markets such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou in Guangdong, the base fares on many popular routes have already fallen into the two-to-three-hundred-yuan range: Beijing to Lanzhou in Gansu costs as little as 200 yuan, Shanghai to Lijiang is also as low as 200 yuan, Beijing to Urumqi in Xinjiang starts at 300 yuan, and Guangzhou to Chengdu in Sichuan starts at 309 yuan.

Even after adding the airport construction fee and fuel surcharge, such prices still offer good value for money.

A traveler told reporters that during the National Day holiday, she had checked round-trip tickets from Beijing to Urumqi, when the price was as high as more than 4,000 yuan.

Out of consideration for the ticket price, she moved her travel plan to after the holiday, and finally bought tickets departing on October 13 and returning on October 20. Even including the airport construction fee and fuel surcharge, the total round-trip price was only about 1,000 yuan.

Fuel surcharge to rise from the 10th

Recently, a number of airlines have notified that starting from October 10, the domestic route fuel surcharge will be raised: 90 yuan per passenger for segments over 800 kilometers, and 50 yuan for segments of 800 kilometers (inclusive) or less, an increase of 20 yuan and 10 yuan respectively.

For tickets issued on or before October 9, the original standard still applies.

In other words, passengers who buy tickets on October 9 can still save another 10 to 20 yuan per ticket.

Autumn break takes over, family travel bookings rise

In November, primary and secondary school students in many parts of the country will have their autumn break, family travel will heat up again, and many travelers have already begun to lock in low-priced post-holiday tickets in advance.

Data shows that for forward-dated tickets departing from cities such as Chengdu in Sichuan, Nanjing in Jiangsu, Beijing and Shanghai, bookings for October 15 to November 15 increased by 40% month-on-month.