China’s Outbound Travel Recovery Has a New Problem: Not Enough Planes

The biggest constraint on China’s outbound travel isn’t demand — it’s the availability of flights, according to a Dragon Trail Research survey of 310 Chinese travel agents to be released Wednesday. More than three-quarters of agents said demand for outbound trips grew in the first half of 2026 compared with a year earlier. A similar share said summer bookings were also up, a strong sentiment in a year the industry expected to be difficult. The clearest proof of the issue with flights is Japan. After a diplomatic dispute in late 2025, China cancelled roughly half of all China-Japan flights. Yet Japan came in second among the “most noteworthy” destinations for 2026, and third for summer bookings. Flights between China and