Airline Refund Policy 2026: Air China, China Eastern and China Southern Fees and Rules

A refund depends first on who changed the trip (you or the airline), then on your fare class and how close you are to departure, then on where the flight goes. All three airlines publish percentage tables for voluntary refunds on domestic China tickets, below. If the airline cancels, delays or retimes the flight, all three publish a refund with no refund fee. International tickets follow the fare rules of the ticket; the pages give a method but no percentage table.

Which rule version covers your ticket

Each airline publishes its refund rules in separate documents with their own versions or sale dates. A change to General Conditions that limits passenger rights or adds obligations does not apply to tickets bought before the change, unless the state provides otherwise (CAAC Provisions, Article 7, Chinese text).

Voluntary or involuntary: who sets the fee

Voluntary means you cancel for your own reasons. Involuntary means the airline's operation changed. The line comes from China's Provisions on the Administration of Public Air Transport Passenger Services (Chinese text, announced 3 March 2021, in force from 1 September 2021):

A refund and delay compensation are separate. Each airline has its own compensation clause (Air China Article 8.3, China Eastern Article 9.2.5, China Southern Article 7.2.4); this guide covers refunds only.

Domestic tickets: voluntary refund fees

All tables show the voluntary refund fee as a percentage. Air China and China Southern say the fee is worked out on the ticket's fare for the flight segment; the China Eastern PDF does not say what its percentages apply to. The tables have different numbers of time bands and cover tickets under different versions, so their columns do not line up.

Air China

Source: Voluntary Refund and Change Rules of CA Domestic Tickets (Version 2026). The Chinese page of the same rules says "in force from April 2026" and carries the same tables. The fee standards apply to domestic tickets sold on or after 1 January 2025.

Special fare products follow their own rules. On Air China's website or flagship store, the fee band is set by the time you submit the request. For an exchanged ticket, the fee uses the original ticket's fare, class and percentage at the cancellation time of the exchanged ticket. Change fees already paid are not refunded. An infant ticket (10% of the F/J/G/Y adult fare) pays no voluntary refund fee.

China Eastern

Source: Voluntary Changes and Refunds for China Eastern Domestic Flights (English PDF), for tickets sold on or after 6 August 2026 for travel starting on or after that date. Its Note 3 sets 14 days as 336 hours and 7 days as 168 hours.

These rules apply unless the ticket states other restrictions. Change fees already paid are not refunded.

China Southern

Source: the Chinese-language domestic ticket conditions of use, translated here, for tickets sold on or after 10 January 2024. The page's table merges cells, so several class letters share one block of numbers. The rows below are those where the letter and the numbers sit on the same line; the page has the rest.

The same page sets a 13-month limit: ask for a voluntary refund no later than 13 months from the start of travel (from the issue date if no segment was used), or it is not accepted. Change fees already paid are not refunded. The infant ticket (10% of the F/J/W/Y adult fare) pays no refund fee.

Free refund windows after you buy

Air China and China Eastern each publish a 2-hour window. China Southern publishes mistaken-purchase rules instead. The rules marked Chinese come from Chinese-language pages and are translated here.

China Southern's refund pages do not publish a general 2-hour window. Its Chinese-language refund and change FAQ covers three cases. The duplicate-ticket and lower-price rules apply to tickets with numbers starting 784:

• Duplicate tickets (identical passenger type, flight and document details; not group tickets): ask at least 4 hours before departure. You use the first ticket; the others are refunded free.
• Wrong entry of passenger type, route, flight number or date: tell China Southern within 2 hours of buying and buy a corrected ticket. The wrong ticket is refunded free.
• Lower price for the same China Southern flight in the same or a higher class (domestic, not group tickets): apply within 24 hours of ticketing. China Southern refunds the original ticket free after you buy the new one.

China Eastern's Chinese page has a similar lower-price rule: for two identical domestic tickets from the same channel bought within 24 hours, with the newer one in the same or a higher physical cabin, cancel the older, dearer one before departure and it is refunded under the involuntary rules. Classes A/O/X/G are excluded. The page also has a duplicate-purchase rule: both unused tickets must be for the same passenger, document, flight and date, and both paid in cash or both redeemed with points from the same Eastern Miles account. Ask the ticket issuer before departure and keep the ticket with the higher total fare excluding taxes; the issuer cancels the other booking before departure. After you finish all travel, the completely unused duplicate is refunded in full with no fee.

When the airline cancels, delays or retimes your flight

All three General Conditions give a refund with no refund fee. The details differ.

China Eastern: if you cancelled, did not show up, or missed the flight for a reason not attributable to the airline before it published the disruption, the ticket's own terms apply; if you had already changed the ticket under the voluntary rules before then, the change and refund fees you paid are not refunded (9.2.1.2). China Southern: if you paid a change fee and the changed flight is not operated as scheduled, the ticket is refunded free but the change fee is kept (9.3.4). Its Chinese FAQ (item 13) also counts a departure delayed by more than 15 minutes as involuntary.

How fast the money comes back. Air China (3.2.1.4) and China Southern (9.1.1.3) each finish a refund within 7 working days of a valid application, not counting bank processing. China Eastern's General Conditions give no processing time; the 7 working days for China Eastern come from Article 26 of the CAAC provisions.

International tickets: no percentage table

None of the three airlines' pages gives a percentage table for international tickets. The fee comes from the fare rules of your ticket. The pages give the method. Air China's international rules say special fare products follow their own rules; China Eastern's international rules add that change fees already paid are not refunded.

• Air China (international rules): the fee is set by the date you cancel. The refund has two parts. Fare and fuel surcharge refund = fare and fuel surcharge paid, minus the repriced fare and fuel surcharge of flown sectors, minus the non-refundable fare and fuel surcharge, minus the refund fee. Tax refund = government taxes of unused sectors, excluding taxes the government says are not refundable.
• China Eastern (international rules, English PDF): the same structure, with the refund fee worked out on the day you process the refund, unless special provisions apply. The English PDF writes "change fee" in the refund formula and the "highest fee" rule; the Chinese version of the rules writes refund fee (退票手续费), and this guide follows it.
• China Southern: its Chinese-language passenger notice gives no percentage or formula. A voluntary refund needs an unused ticket and must be requested within 13 months of the start of travel (from the issue date if the first segment is unused), in principle where you paid.

Air China and China Eastern agree on these points: a non-refundable fare means a non-refundable fuel surcharge; if the result is zero or negative you pay nothing extra and still get the unused government taxes (China Eastern adds that the unused fuel surcharge is not refundable then); Air China charges only the highest refund fee among the unused sectors; China Eastern charges only the highest refund fee on the ticket, whether or not the sector has been used. China Eastern's Chinese international refund notice adds that if the calculated amount is zero, negative or not more than the unused taxes, only the unused taxes are refunded.

Flights to or from the United States or the EU

United States. The rule is 14 CFR Part 260 (eCFR). A "covered carrier" is a US or foreign carrier operating scheduled passenger service to, from or within the United States (§260.2). When a covered flight is cancelled, or significantly delayed or changed, and you decline the changed flight, rebooking, voucher or other compensation, a covered carrier that is the merchant of record must give a full and prompt refund of the airfare, including taxes and ancillary fees, even on a non-refundable ticket (§260.6(a)).

• A significantly delayed or changed flight is one where the carrier's delay or change leaves you (§260.2): departing 3 hours or more earlier (domestic) or 6 hours or more earlier (international) than scheduled; arriving 3 hours or more later (domestic) or 6 hours or more later (international); using a different departure or arrival airport; with more connection points; or in a lower class of service. Two more items cover travellers with a disability.
• "Prompt" means within 7 business days for credit card purchases and 20 calendar days for cash, check, debit card or other payments, counted from the earliest refund-request date under §260.6(a)(2) (§260.2). The refund goes to the original form of payment with no processing fee (§260.10).
• A voucher offered instead of a refund must stay valid for at least 5 years (§260.6(c)), and you must affirmatively agree to it (§260.7).
• If a ticket agent is the merchant of record and you request the refund through the agent, the carrier must tell the agent without delay whether you are eligible for the refund (§260.6(d)).

This rule covers cancelled flights and significant delays or changes made by the carrier. It does not refund a voluntary cancellation of a non-refundable fare.

European Union. Per the EU's Your Europe page, EU rules apply to flights within the EU on any airline, to flights arriving in the EU from outside only when an EU airline operates them, and to flights leaving the EU for a non-EU country on any airline. They do not apply if you already received benefits for the same problem under non-EU law. After a cancellation you can choose reimbursement, re-routing or return. If the flight is delayed at departure, the right to assistance, reimbursement and a return flight depends on the length of the delay and the distance of the flight. Compensation is a separate claim.

Who handles the refund, and the deadlines

For an involuntary refund, Air China (3.2.3.4) and China Southern (9.3.2) accept the request directly or through the original purchase channel. Airline agents cannot change the airline's own rules (CAAC Article 9), and the platform that hosts an agent handles complaints between you and the agent (Article 10). If you dispute the stated cause of a delay or cancellation, the CAAC Air Travel Tips page (Chinese) points to the Civil Aviation Service Quality Supervision Platform at www.12326.cn. The same page says that when a flight is irregular you can choose to rebook or refund.

Which should you choose

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