Advanced flight bookings from China to the US for this summer have declined, the latest data shows amid escalating trade tensions between the economic superpowers.
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The total number of air tickets purchased for June travel dates fell 25 per cent between March 3 and April 28, according to figures compiled by marketing and tech firm China Trading Desk with help from the aviation data company VariFlight.
That means cancellations are outnumbering new bookings, China Trading Desk CEO Subramania Bhatt said.
For July travel dates, its statistics showed that total purchased tickets dropped by 24 per cent during the same period.
Actual travel to the US also eased by 14 per cent in the week ending April 14, compared with the previous week, and then by 30 per cent over the next seven days, due to “big swings underscoring the mood”, Bhatt said.
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“Declining economic activity is one facet of the issue,” Bhatt said. “Other contributing factors include trade and economic frictions, tightened visa requirements and security incidents.”