China Domestic Airfares Plunge After National Day Holiday

The post-holiday fare collapse reflects a demand-driven pricing cycle rather than a structural shift, but its scale is still telling: discounting of this magnitude suggests airlines are prioritizing load factors over yield during a soft travel window. For consumers, the arbitrage between holiday and off-peak pricing is unusually wide, which could pull some discretionary trips forward. The open question is whether this weakness persists into the next booking cycle or is purely seasonal, and whether carriers respond with capacity cuts on the affected trunk routes.