Chinese airlines slash ticket prices after "Golden Vacation Week"
9/10/2006 16:42
Chinese airlines are offering steep discounts on air fares, in some cases
70 percent off, now that the "Golden Vacation Week" from Oct. 1 through 7 is
over.
China Eastern Airlines, Shanghai Airlines and China Southern Airlines
are all offering Beijing-Shanghai tickets at 340 yuan (about US$42.5), only 30
percent of the normal ticket price.
Hainan Airlines is even offering tickets
at 280 yuan (about US$35), which is lower than the 327 yuan (about US$41) cost
of a sleeper train ticket.
Flights from Beijing to other cities, including
Guangzhou, Hangzhou, and Chengdu, are also being discounted as much as 70
percent on National Day holiday prices. A similar situation is reported on other
air routes.
According to China's General Administration of Civil Aviation
(CAAC), Chinese people made 2.76 million air trips during this year's National
Day holidays, an increase of 2 percent over the same period last year.
On
September 29 and 30, passengers could not find discounted tickets because too
many people had planned to travel early. Air fares dropped later, but rebounded
on Oct. 6 and Oct. 7 when tourists were anxious to go back to work.
Wang
Yili, assistant general manager of Yoee.com, an air travel service website, said
air travel had entered the off-season. Low air fares, regarded as an effective
means to attract customers as competition between airlines intensifies, will be
widely available till the end of the year.
xinhua
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