China is Flying High Again: Cirium Survey Shows Remarkable Consumer Confidence for a Travel Restart
Chinese travelers are leading the airline travel recovery, with 96% intending to travel, according to a new survey by Cirium, the aviation analytics company. 81% of respondents say they plan to fly at least once within the next 12 months and 50% plan to fly by this autumn. Of those planning to travel, 73% stated it was for leisure with only 24% planning business travel.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211020005941/en/
Cirium's new Traveler Intelligence Report reveals China is flying high again. (Graphic: Business Wire)
The pent-up demand is also reflected in China’s passenger traffic, which is showing signs of a strong recovery. As of September 2021, China traffic was at 87% of 2019 levels — way ahead the rest of Asia (42%).
The survey revealed that two thirds (66%) of Chinese travelers have taken a domestic flight since the start of the pandemic. Cirium schedules data reveal domestic travel in Q4 is primed to outpace pre-pandemic levels, growing by some 15% compared to Q4 2019.
Following months of restrictions aligned to China’s Zero-COVID policy, pent-up demand for a major return to international and regional travel is palpable.
More than half (61%) of respondents shared that they are ready to travel out of mainland China once borders are open, with Southeast Asia as the region of choice, followed by Europe, Australia/New Zealand and East Asia.
Jeremy Bowen, CEO at Cirium said: “The Cirium survey highlights the Chinese traveler’s confidence in flying domestically and pent-up demand when it comes to flying internationally. There is a clear preference for Southeast Asia, so the challenge faced is to bring back travel to other markets such as East Asia, which was a previous top destination.”
“The results also show the importance of health and safety measures, which will need to be in place to increase the confidence in traveling internationally from China.”
While Chinese travelers show confidence in flying again, 35% of those surveyed claimed that they would be less likely to travel by air, post-pandemic. They were principally concerned over health, hygiene and safety.
Almost all of the respondents (96%) support the mandatory requirement to wear a face mask when travelling by air. And over 85% support the introduction of health passports as a prerequisite to flying, and the use of apps that promote touchless travel.
When choosing an airline, respondents placed importance on mandatory mask wearing (66%), improved cleaning processes in place (65%) and proof of negative pre-departure COVID-19 test (62%).
Chinese travelers were divided when it came to the time spent at the airport. 53% of travelers claimed they will reduce the amount of time they spend at airports, compared to 21% who will look to increase their time at the airport as they feel safer with the COVID-19 safety measures in place.
The survey was carried out by independent market intelligence firm AudienceNet on behalf of Cirium. The firm interviewed over 2,060 adults in mainland China between August 30 and September 8, 2021. The margin of error in the reported data did not exceed +/-3% at the 95% confidence level.
Click here to read the full China Cirium Traveler Intelligence Report.
Additional insights on air travel in the full report include:
- The importance of flying on modern aircraft
- Future use of airport lounges
- Cabin class preferences
- Top destinations outside of mainland China
Ends
For further information please follow Cirium updates on WeChat or visit www.cirium.com.
About Cirium
Cirium brings together powerful data and analytics to keep the world moving. Delivering insight, built from decades of experience in the sector, enabling travel companies, aircraft manufacturers, airports, airlines and financial institutions, among others, to make logical and informed decisions which shape the future of travel, growing revenues and enhancing customer experiences. Cirium is part of RELX, a global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers. The shares of RELX PLC are traded on the London, Amsterdam and New York Stock Exchanges using the following ticker symbols: London: REL; Amsterdam: REN; New York: RELX.
To view this piece of content from cts.businesswire.com, please give your consent at the top of this page.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211020005941/en/
Contact information
For media enquiries please contact:
June Lee (APAC) / Rachel Humphries (Global)
media@cirium.com
Mindy Wang (China) at Dan Communications
shumei.wang@cirium.com
Kyoko Ishida (Japan) at Train Tracks
cirium@traintracks.jp
About Business Wire
For more than 50 years, Business Wire has been the global leader in press release distribution and regulatory disclosure.
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
Lattice Wins 2025 Global Semiconductor Alliance Award6.12.2025 01:49:00 EET | Press release
Lattice Semiconductor (NASDAQ: LSCC), the low power programmable leader, today announced that it was selected as ‘Most Respected Public Semiconductor Company’ at the 2025 Global Semiconductor Alliance (GSA) Awards. The GSA awards recognize companies that have demonstrated excellence through their success, vision, strategy, and future opportunities in the industry as determined by votes from GSA members. “We are honored to be recognized by the Global Semiconductor Alliance and our peers as one of 2025’s most respected public semiconductor companies. This recognition reflects the dedication of the Lattice team and the trust of our customers, partners, suppliers, and investors. Looking ahead, we remain laser-focused on driving innovation and strengthening our role as the trusted low power programmable leader for semiconductor and system solutions,” said Ford Tamer, Chief Executive Officer, Lattice Semiconductor. The annual GSA Awards celebrate the accomplishments of the semiconductor indu
Fitch Learning Completes Acquisition of Moody’s Analytics Learning Solutions and the Canadian Securities Institute5.12.2025 17:48:00 EET | Press release
Fitch Learning, the global leader in financial learning and professional certifications, today announced the completion of its acquisition of Moody’s Analytics Learning Solutions (MALS) and the Canadian Securities Institute (CSI). MALS is a global provider of credit and digital learning, and CSI is a leading provider of certifications for the Canadian financial services industry. Fitch Learning, recognized globally as the premier financial education provider, delivers specialized training for the financial services industry through accredited qualifications, flexible corporate solutions programs, managed services and digital learning solutions trusted by leading institutions worldwide. The combined business will serve over 92,000 finance professionals across 148 countries, at every stage of their careers. “This acquisition is about creating more opportunities for growth – for organizations and for individuals,” said Andreas Karaiskos, CEO of Fitch Learning. “By combining both organizat
Arthur D. Little and Vega IT Unveil Joint Venture for Digital Innovation5.12.2025 17:00:00 EET | Press release
Arthur D. Little (ADL) and Vega IT today announced the formation of Axceler8 Solutions, a 50/50 joint venture created to design, develop, and operate a portfolio of digital and AI solutions aimed at improving efficiency and automating complex business processes. The launch of this new company is the direct outcome of a year of successful collaboration between the two firms and marks a new phase in their shared ambition to bring scalable, high-performance digital solutions to market, aiming to further augment their clients’ capacity to compress time to impact in a variety of domains. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20251205465303/en/ Arthur D. Little and Vega IT have announced the formation of Axceler8 Solutions, a 50/50 joint venture created to design, develop, and operate a portfolio of digital and AI solutions. Axceler8 Solutions’ first product, Axceler8 Rx, is now live as a newly developed platform, and is a
Lone Star Announces Sale of SPX FLOW to ITT Inc.5.12.2025 14:30:00 EET | Press release
Lone Star Funds (“Lone Star”) today announced the signing by an affiliate of Lone Star Fund XI, LP of a definitive agreement to sell SPX FLOW, Inc. (“SPX FLOW”), a leading provider of highly engineered equipment and process technologies for attractive end markets including industrial, health and nutrition, to ITT Inc. (NYSE: ITT) for $4.775 billion in cash and shares of common stock. Based in Charlotte, N.C., SPX FLOW focuses on process technologies delivering mixing, blending, fluid handling, separation, thermal heat transfer and other solutions integral to industrial, health and nutrition markets. The company has operations in more than 25 countries and sales in more than 140 countries. In partnership with Lone Star, SPX FLOW has focused on improving its sales execution and operating platform, while ensuring high quality and innovative product development. The management team has improved the company’s commercial organization and executed growth initiatives to build its presence in e
AmTrust Financial Services and Blackstone Credit & Insurance Close Strategic Transaction and Launch Newly Formed Multinational MGA Company Named ANV Group Holdings Ltd.5.12.2025 14:00:00 EET | Press release
AmTrust Financial Services, Inc. (“AmTrust” or the “Company”), a global specialty property casualty insurer, and Blackstone Credit & Insurance (“BXCI”), today announced the closing of a strategic transaction under which AmTrust and funds managed by BXCI have partnered to spin-off certain of AmTrust’s Managing General Agencies (“MGAs”) and fee-based businesses in the U.S., United Kingdom, and Continental Europe, into ANV Group Holdings Ltd. (“ANV”), a newly formed independent company, following receipt of regulatory approvals. AmTrust and ANV have entered into a ten-year capacity agreement through which AmTrust will remain the underwriter for the existing books of business offered through the MGAs. As previously announced on September 15, 2025, the agreement includes seven AmTrust subsidiaries: ANV Specialty, Risico, Collegiate, ANV Nordic, Arc Legal, Qualis, and Abacus. These businesses provide diverse risk and insurance coverages including cyber excess and surplus (E&S), directors and
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom