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Demand for air travel is rising although the National Day holidays are still more than a week away.

An airport spokesperson said there would be more than 3,000 flights during the holiday week.

"Most of the extra flights will be in the three days before the holiday begins and during the last three days," said the source surnamed Shi.

The number of departing passengers would pick up dramatically from Sept. 29, Shi said.

"Most of the passengers will return to Shenzhen in the last two days of the week," he said.

Statistics from various ticket offices show that tickets for flights after Sept. 26 are in short supply.

Flights between Shenzhen and Zhangjiajie from Sept. 30 to Oct. 3 have sold out. Tickets for destinations such as Guilin, Kunming, Haikou and Hangzhou have small discounts or are full price.

But tickets for Beijing and Shanghai will be subject to a 20 percent discount even during the holidays.

A China Southern Airlines source said ticket sales for international flights had also picked up.

"We're selling many more tickets for individual travelers than last year," he said. "Tickets for an average of more than 300 international flights were being sold each day."

"Although more European countries have opened to Chinese travelers, most people were still going to Southeast Asian countries and Australia," he said.