China's giving flight refund for students as schools are closed

Photograph: Daniel Eledut via Unsplash

According to Xinhua News, the Civil Aviation Administration of China announced that as of Tuesday (11 February), students can cancel any domestic flights operated by Chinese airlines booked before midnight on March 31 or change to other domestic flights scheduled to depart from any Chinese cities before midnight on 31 March for free.

To get refunded, students should prove their identity, either directly with airlines or to the ticketing agency they booked with. As official school return dates for all Chinese schools and university are still undecided, more refund policies will likely follow suit.

For travellers who are not students, there will be no cancellation fee for all air tickets bought before 28 January to travel after the date. Most domestic airlines and more than 50 international airlines are currently implementing the policy, as are most booking agencies in China. According to fliggy, one of the country’s biggest booking platforms, refunds should take no longer than 15 days for domestic airlines while the length may vary for international airlines.

According to Chinanews, as of yesterday (Wednesday 12), domestic and international airlines have refunded over 19 million tickets. Airports across the country have received 10.2 million air travellers during this year’s chunyun period (usually 40 days before and after the nation’s week-long Spring Festival holiday) – a 70 percent decrease compared to the same period last year.

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