A woman wearing a protective mask is seen at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport in Roissy, near Paris, France, on Friday. Photo: Xinhua

Chinese people overseas, concerned with the spread of COVID-19 in Western countries and suspicious of foreign governments' capabilities to contain the disease, are rushing back to China, but flight reductions and exorbitant prices are challenging their attempts. 

Air China will cut some flights between London and Beijing but will not suspend the route, an anonymous insider told the Global Times on Monday, after rumors circulating online said the company had halted service between the two cities from Monday to March 28. 

Many Chinese students have complained since Sunday on social media platform Sina Weibo that their flights to China were canceled, asking Air China for an explanation. 

"We've paid a lot, but the problem is no flights," a Weibo user wrote. 

A high school student in the UK surnamed Zhu also found his Thursday flight from London to Beijing canceled. Zhu's father told the Global Times that they would continue browsing the website for a return ticket. "We are determined to have him back as the UK government's passive strategy in dealing with the pandemic is worrisome," the father said. 

"Despite the impact on his studies, I hope he can come back. Quarantine in Beijing is way better than staying in the UK," the father noted. 

The panic-driven travel rush has spiked the prices of international flight tickets, with some paying as high as $25,700 for a spot on a business jet. 

Hilbert Xiao, a Cambridge University student, told the Global Times that he spent 20,000 yuan ($2,856), seven times the normal price, to get back to Shanghai on Monday by plane from London via Osaka, Japan after the previous flight he booked with a stopover in Singapore was canceled. 

Many of my Chinese schoolmates transited in Osaka and Tokyo as no direct flights were available at the time, Xiao said on Monday. 

A business jet service company said that all 40 seats on a flight from London to Shanghai with ticket prices starting from 180,000 yuan, with a stopover in Geneva, was quickly booked after the itinerary was released by a few employees on their social media friend circles. Demand would outnumber provisions if they promote it publically, Southern Metropolis Daily reported. 

Fraud also emerged as international students and their parents are eager to return to China. Screenshots online have shown Chinese students in the UK warning their peers on social media to be careful to join chartered flight chat groups. Some have been swindled from $5,000-7,000. 

Tickets from Frankfurt to Shanghai were sold out at 20,000 yuan per seat. A traveler who did not give his name told the Global Times his flight on Tuesday was canceled and the agency told him the earliest date to change was May 1. 

In the US, as all American airlines have halted flights to China when the outbreak started, people have very limited choices of Chinese airlines and those of a third country. 

Lang Chao, a PhD candidate in the US, bought two direct flight tickets scheduled on March 26 and 31, both the earliest available dates when she placed the order. 

"I bought the second ticket from Boston to Beijing yesterday at about $2,860 for fear that the first flight from New York City might be canceled if the situation in the city continues to worsen," Lang told the Global Times on Monday. 

Lang bought her first ticket five days ago at $1,600, which is already the peak price for a Christmas season round trip. Prices are rising during the past days as many people are rushing back or planning to do so, she said. 

Lang has asthma and decided to return after discussions with her family despite "the high risk of getting infected at the crowded airport and during the flight," she said.