Flights to China So Expensive, Even One That’s Before 8 Jan Costs Over $5,000


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Lest you have yet to hear, China will be reopening their borders for international travellers starting 8 January 2023.

We will see the magnificent views of the Great Walls of China, tour the Forbidden City or indulge in some sweet tanghulu again for the first time in three years.

However, this time round, it will not be the quarantine orders that are stopping us from visiting China again. It would be the high flight prices.

China may be ready to welcome us travelling there, but our wallets are not. 

High Prices, Even Before the Borders Reopen

Singapore Airlines is starting to resume flights to China for the first time in three years, with the first flights out to Beijing on 30 December 2022, Friday. 

However, flight prices are already starting to skyrocket, even ahead of China’s reopening borders. 

The lowest airfares for a flight to Shanghai on 2 January 2022 start at about $6,400.60. 

Singapore to Shanghai
Image: Singapore Airlines

The flight tickets are so expensive you could fly out to Europe twice for the same price as a flight to Shanghai. The shocking part is that you would still have some savings left over.

Singapore to Paris
Image: Singapore Airlines

Even taking the longest flight in the world on Premium Economy would be a cheaper alternative than flying out to China at the current moment. 

Image: Singapore Airlines

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Why Are The Prices So High?

There are many reasons for the huge price tags for flights worldwide as the borders are starting to open up.

Demand for travelling is taking flight now (pun intended) and is sky-high for the first time in ages since the pandemic started. 

However, the travel industry is unable to catch up with the supply of flights as fast as the demand for them.

According to The Straits Times, as much as a third of 35,000 workers in the aviation sector lost their jobs during the pandemic.

Singapore Airlines alone had retrenched about 4,300 of their staff. It has been challenging to hire these workers back, with some choosing to jump sectors altogether after the pandemic.

Without these essential aviation crew members both in the air and on the ground – such as pilots, flight attendants and baggage handlers, flight frequency will not be able to operate as much as compared to the pre-pandemic times.

This issue, coupled with rising fuel prices, will cause flight tickets to continue skyrocketing. You can watch our explanation of rising fuel prices over here: 


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Fear not; as the travel industry slowly recovers over time, flight prices will drop in the future. Soon, we will be able to travel to China at the lower prices we were used to in the past. 

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Featured Image: Shawn Ang / Unsplash