Gradual increase of international flights brings inbound business travel uptick

Inbound business trips increased in October with the addition of international flights and other measures aimed to boost foreign investment, travel operators said.

Chinese authorities have recently issued a slew of measures to facilitate foreign investment in the country with a focus on the manufacturing sector, according to Xinhua news agency.

China will optimize its investment environment to transform opening-up policies into concrete projects, according to a document jointly released by the National Development and Reform Commission and five other government bodies on Tuesday.

The document urged facilitating the entry and exit of executives and technicians of multinational companies and foreign-invested firms and their families to the country under the premise of sound COVID-19 pandemic prevention and control.

So far, inbound business trip bookings in October grew nearly 20 percent from the same period last month, with bookings involving the trade and manufacturing sectors rising over 30 percent and within the information technology service and software industry up 23 percent, according to Shanghai-based online travel operator Trip.com.

As of Tuesday, the number of inbound air ticket bookings in October soared 96 percent from the same period last year and 40 percent from last month.

The ticket fare for a single trip was 8,030 yuan (US$1,111) on average, down 28 percent from the same period last month. The Phnom Penh-Guangzhou, Bangkok-Kunming, and Seoul-Wuhan routes witnessed the biggest drop, according to the travel operator.

"Preferential policies facilitating business personnel travel to China are active preparation signals for wider cross-border mobility of business staff, which will not only benefit international trade and business but also accrue precious experience for the future opening of inbound tourism," said Zhang Zhining, a tourism analyst at Trip.com.

Major Chinese airlines have announced plans to largely restore international flights beginning later this month to further boost cross-border exchange amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The State Council, or China's Cabinet, has called for an "orderly increase in the number of domestic and international flights while taking convenience measures for the travel of foreign company staffers."

The country's three largest airlines – China Eastern, China Southern and Air China, along with some other domestic carriers, have released their flight adjustment plans for the upcoming winter-spring aviation season beginning on October 30 with more international routes to be restored, added or newly opened.

Tongcheng-eLong, another major domestic online travel operator, said as of Monday, inbound air ticket bookings on its platform grew 28 percent this month compared with the same period last month, with the price down 30 percent on average.

Among these, the ticket price for the Madrid-Beijing flight plummeted 80 percent, while the fares for flights from Manila to Wuhan and Xiamen dropped 78 percent and 73 percent respectively, according to the travel operator.

Ticket prices from big cities in Europe to China largely dropped to between 10,000 yuan and 20,000 yuan, with some even under 10,000 yuan.

"The increase in international flights provides more options for passengers returning to China and decreases the possibility of schedule changes," said Zhang Mingyang, an analyst of Tongcheng-eLong. "The price of international air tickets will gradually stabilize."