After the National Day holiday ended, passenger traffic in China's domestic civil aviation sector fell sharply, and airfares dropped significantly, ushering in a "low-price off-peak" mode. Fares on many routes have fallen below high-speed rail ticket prices, offering strong value for money.

Data shows that from October 9 to 31, the average paid price of domestic air tickets was more than 30% lower than during the National Day holiday, and average fares on routes involving popular cities such as Hangzhou, Shenzhen, Beijing, and Shanghai fell by about 200 yuan month on month.

A financial reporter found on the Qunar platform that within the past week, departing from Beijing, the base fare was 200 yuan to Lanzhou, 230 yuan to Quanzhou, and 300 yuan to Urumqi; departing from Shanghai, it was 200 yuan to Lijiang and 300 yuan to Shenyang; and departing from Guangzhou, it was 259 yuan to Qingdao and 309 yuan to Chengdu. Even after adding airport construction and fuel surcharges, the prices were still lower than high-speed rail fares.

It is worth noting that fuel surcharges will rise, making October 7-9 the best window in the near term to buy low-priced tickets. According to information obtained by a Xinhua News Agency reporter from multiple airlines on the 7th, fuel surcharges will be increased for tickets sold for Chinese mainland routes from 0:00 on October 10.

The specific adjusted standards are as follows: 50 yuan per flight segment for routes of 800 kilometers or less, and 90 yuan per flight segment for routes of more than 800 kilometers. Infant passengers are exempt from fuel surcharges, while fuel surcharges for tickets for children, disabled revolutionary servicemen, and people's police disabled in the line of duty are halved.

Compared with the current fuel surcharge standards, the surcharge for segments of 800 kilometers or less will increase by 10 yuan, and the surcharge for segments of more than 800 kilometers will increase by 20 yuan. Many travelers took advantage of the window period to buy low-priced tickets. On the Qunar platform, bookings for future tickets departing from cities such as Chengdu, Nanjing, Beijing, and Shanghai for travel between October 15 and November 15 rose by 40% on October 6 compared with October 5.

In November, primary and secondary school students in multiple cities will have an autumn holiday. On the platform, for departures from Chengdu, the top three popular autumn holiday destinations were Guangzhou, Shanghai, and Sanya; for departures from Nanjing, the top three were Guangzhou, Zhuhai, and Sanya.

In addition to domestic routes, international airfares have also seen sharp price drops. Recently, many cross-border routes have been on sale at low prices, with Beijing to Seoul as low as 518 yuan, Shanghai to Ho Chi Minh City 460 yuan, Chengdu to Bangkok only 286 yuan, and Guangzhou to Kuala Lumpur 329 yuan, providing an excellent opportunity for off-peak outbound travel.