Recently, a new label quietly appeared on the homepage of Umetrip, the mobile app of China’s largest civil aviation information service platform Travelsky, marking it as the "Official Direct Sales Platform for Civil Aviation."
Some netizens see this as Umetrip’s move into the air ticket sales, dubbing it the “civil aviation version of 12306” (China’s official railway booking platform).
Umetrip earns that nickname largely because it is the most widely used air travel information platform in China, with over 100 million active users. Its shareholders include state-owned giants such as TravelSky, China Eastern Airlines, and China Southern Airlines.
Unlike OTAs such as Trip.com or Qunar, the tickets sold on Umetrip do not come from third-party ticket agents, but directly from domestic airlines’ own inventories.
Each airline manages and releases its own fares, Umetrip merely displays them—without charging the airlines any distribution or agency fees.
Currently, the platform has integrated direct ticketing services from 37 domestic airlines, allowing users to compare and purchase across airlines in one interface—no more switching among multiple airline websites.
Umetrip promotes its ticketing service with the slogan “zero price difference, zero bundling, zero tricks,” positioning it clearly against some third-party platforms—where many users have experienced price jumping by tens or even hundreds of yuan after a simple page refresh.
Moreover, many OTAs still rely on agents who resell tickets obtained via points or other unofficial channels. While these tickets may be cheaper, they often become far more troublesome when it comes to refunds or changes.
By enabling airlines to operate their own ticket inventories on a unified platform, Umetrip not only meet users’ fare-comparison needs but also improves ticket security and regulatory oversight.
