Domestic air travel in China, which has been recovering slowly in the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak, has now reached more than 50% of what it was at the equivalent moment in 2019, based on issued air tickets, ForwardKeys, a travel analytics company, reveals in its latest assessment.

In addition, analysis of flight ticketing data reveals a significant uptick in last-minute domestic flight bookings in China between 11 May and 21 May. During that period, the lead time between ticketing and travel shortened dramatically; 72% of flight tickets were issued within 4 days of the travel date, compared with 51% at the equivalent point in 2019. ForwardKeys believes that this phenomenon is significantly influenced by students returning to university, as the timing coincides with universities reopening – a milestone that is expected to stimulate Chinese consumers to travel more.