Around China by Air

 

Flying can be the most convenient way to travel around China. It allows you to cover vast distances quickly and China’s airports are generally well-run and efficient places, as opposed to the chaos and overwhelming crowds of train and bus stations. Also, when discounted by 50% or 60%, the price of an air ticket is often only ¥100 or so more expensive than traveling by train in soft sleeper (4 person cabins). The domestic air network is extensive and it’s generaly no problem to fly between provincial capitals at a convenient time. Unless you are on a tight budget, air travel is the best way to move around China.

 

The defenders of train travel will tell you that air travel isn’t actually so convenient as you lose time during the day as opposed to traveling overnight and that the air travel actually takes 2.5 hours on top of your flight time (because you need to be at the airport an hour before departure and it often takes 45 minutes from the center of a city to the airport). Fair points, except that it is very rare to find a train journey between the major destinations that actually takes up only the night: the Beijing to Shanghai route is probably the only one. All other popular routes take at least 12 hours meaning you still waste time during the day. And since you need to be at the train station at least 30 minutes before departure and it will take you on average 20 minutes to reach it, you can add 1 hour 10 minutes to train journeys as well.

 

 

The Airlines

 

All Chinese airlines are quite comfortable and have good safety records. They all make the effort to broadcast announcements in English when there are foreigners on board (though it’s often indecipherable). There seems to be no rhyme or reason as to whether meals are served on flights or not, but you can count on receiving a meal on the majority of flights. The big three airlines in China are Air China, China Southern Airlines and China Eastern. Shanghai Airlines and Hainan Airlines also operate on a large number of routes. Generally you’ll find yourself taking one of these five airlines, or one of their subsidiaries, when traveling by air.

 

Air China: With its headquarters in Beijing, this is China’s flagship airline and the country’s second largest. With hubs in Shanghai, Chengdu and Guangzhou, it services all major cities in China. In terms of safety, Air China has had one accident involving fatalities since its inception in 1988.

 

China Southern Airlines: China’s largest airline in terms of fleet size and passenger traffic is based in Guangzhou. It services all major destinations in China and has had a few fatal accidents since its birth in 1989.

 

China Eastern Airlines: China’s third biggest airline is based in Shanghai with an extensive network of domestic flights.

 

Shanghai Airlines: Also based in Shanghai, this airline is making a real effort to appeal to foreigners on its flights. Founded in 1985, it is also the only major airline in China that has had no accidents and is China’s fifth largest airline in terms of fleet size.

 

Hainan Airlines: Based in the very south of China in Haikou, the capital of the island province of Hainan, this is China’s fourth largest airline in terms of fleet size. With bases in Beijing, Xian, Taiyuan, Guangzhou and Urumqi, it services more than 90 domestic destinations and has a safety record comparable to the big three airlines.

 

 

Purchasing Tickets

 

While full rates for airfares are quite high, it is very rare that you won’t be able to find a discount of at least 30% off the full rate. Discounts of 40%-50% are common and a 60% discount is not too rare. Discounts of 70% and 80% are occasionally possible if you can be very flexible with your date and time of travel. Tickets can be booked at just about any travel agency (at a hotel or otherwise) or via a few websites online.

 

CTrip and Elong are the two biggest sellers of plane tickets online. However, they do not offer the possibility of purchasing tickets online with a foreign credit card. Instead they need to fax you a credit card authorization form which needs to be filled out and faxed back to them. This process has to be completed quickly as tickets are not guaranteed until they are paid in full and prices for tickets can change at any given moment. So booking flights with these companies can be difficult.

 

Ticket 9588 is currently the only company that allows purchases with a foreign credit card online and so is probably the best option. All of these websites require you to create an account before making a purchase. Prices are more or less exactly the same between the three and travel agencies will generally offer the same price as well. If you book through your hotel, it will be a bit more expensive (they add on a commission for themselves).

 

 

Fares

 

Below are some sample fares for some of the major domestic routes. These are the full rates. As stated above, discounts of around 50% are common. Taxes and fees (fuel surcharge, airport construction fees, etc) are added on top of these prices and on most flights amount to ¥150 ($21).

 

Beijing-Shanghai:                      ¥1130

Beijing-Guangzhou:                   ¥1700

Beijing-Xian:                             ¥1050

Beijing-Chengdu:                      ¥1440

Beijing-Kunming:                      ¥1810

 

Shanghai-Guangzhou:                ¥1280

Shanghai-Xian:                          ¥1260

Shanghai-Chengdu:                   ¥1610

Shanghai-Kunming:                   ¥1900

 

Guangzhou-Xian:                      ¥1490

Guangzhou-Chengdu:                ¥1300

Guangzhou-Kunming:                ¥1260