Chinese travellers flock to Central Asia as flight bookings soar 120% on pre-Covid levels

READ FULL ARTICLE ON SCMP

By Yeon Woo Lee

Published April 26, 2026

Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative behind stronger economic ties and passenger traffic growth between the two regions, say industry experts

Once a niche destination, Central Asia is quickly emerging as a key market for Chinese travellers, supported by robust traffic growth, expanding air links and deeper economic ties under Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative, according to analysts.

Data from the Civil Aviation Administration of China showed that passenger traffic to Central Asia grew 59.3 per cent in 2025 from a year earlier, marking one of the fastest growth rates among all regions tracked, said Mayur Patel, commercial and industry affairs leader for Asia-Pacific at OAG Aviation.

Patel said travel demand between Central Asian countries and China would be more significant in the near future and was “possibly underappreciated” at present.

He added that already by summer 2024, Chinese airline frequencies to the region had risen by 120 per cent above 2019 levels, representing the strongest and most consistent pandemic recovery of any global region.

“[Along with tourism], these routes are also supported by business travel, trade links, government exchanges, education and VFR (visiting friends and relatives) traffic, which makes demand more stable,” said Subramania Bhatt, CEO of the travel marketing and technology firm China Trading Desk.

Meanwhile, flight numbers from China to some traditional American and European markets have yet to fully recover. As of March, capacity to North America was still less than 30 per cent of 2019 levels, according to Chinese outlet Yicai.

Central Asia has not traditionally been a popular destination for Chinese travellers, particularly for tourism, with Southeast Asia and East Asia long preferred, while business travel to the region has remained limited.

However, Chinese efforts to expand investment and influence under the Belt and Road Initiative over more than a decade are beginning to bear fruit, driving deeper cultural and commercial exchanges, analysts said.

“China’s Belt and Road Initiative has revitalised interest in Central Asia by deepening infrastructure, trade and connectivity links across the region,” Patel said. “That structural investment has created sustained business travel demand that did not exist a decade ago.”

At the same time, destinations such as Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan are attracting global travellers seeking distinctive cultural experiences, while offering Chinese tourists more affordable and visa-accessible options. China has mutual visa waiver agreements with both countries.

“The flow is also bidirectional: since the second half of 2025, China’s inbound tourism has seen a notable rise in visitors from Central Asia and [belt and road] countries,” Patel added.

To meet the growing demand, airlines are rolling out new routes connecting the two regions. The latest announcement came from Air Astana on April 13, stating that Kazakhstan’s flagship carrier had opened a Shanghai–Almaty route and increased flights between the two countries to 32.

Its CEO Ibrahim Canliel said that, based on anticipated growth in business, tourism and student travel, the airline plans to launch flights from its capital Astana to Hangzhou and Guangzhou in June, and add services from Almaty and Astana in Kazakhstan to Beijing, as well as from Almaty to Urumqi, this summer.

At the end of March, China Southern Airlines and China Eastern Airlines also launched routes from Guangzhou to Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan, and from Shanghai to Tashkent, Uzbekistan, respectively.

Humphrey Ho, CEO and founder of Helios & Partners, attributed Central Asia’s rise to a “perfect storm”, as the region has become a practical alternative to many long-favoured destinations, while facing fewer constraints such as geopolitical headwinds and pricing pressures.

“It’s a close destination for many [Chinese travellers] and also a new one – versus Japan or Thailand – and is mostly politically aligned, making it less likely to be subject to the volatility of Japan or the US, or the distance of the EU,” he added.