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Airfares plummet despite travel spree
26/4/2005 17:50

Jane Chen / Shanghai Daily news

Chen, a local lady, opted to take the train for her holiday to Beijing, expecting no discounts on airfares during the upcoming weeklong holiday that starts May 1.
But her expectation seems wrong.
Air tickets for flights from Shanghai to Beijing on April 30 are now half price, 620 yuan (US$75), a little higher than the 478 yuan of her railway ticket.
Besides the busy Shanghai-Beijing route, unexpected discounts are being offered on many other domestic flights in the holiday, a traditional travel peak, the Shanghai Morning Post said.
For example, discounts up to 60 percent are being offered around April 30 from Shanghai to Chongqing, Chengdu, Minayang, and 20 percent off is available on flights to Xi'an, Qingdao, Dalian and Haikou.  But airfares remain at full prices on services to Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Sanya, Kunming and Luoyang.
The discounts break the price agreement established by the major carriers earlier this month after the new round of air service schedules began on March 27.  Under the agreement, carriers were to unite to protect the air industry by preventing discounts deeper than 20 percent.
It is the smaller air companies that have first reduced ticket prices to attract passengers and therefore triggered the price competition, according to industry insiders.
Bigger firms, though disagreeing with the low-price strategy, must follow the practice to maintain their occupancy rates, they said.
Insiders expect more price breaks when the holiday week is over.