Airlines hike prices of premium domestic tickets
- Source: Global Times
- [10:34 July 05 2010]
- Comments
Customers leave a China Eastern Airlines ticket office on Weihai Road Sunday. Photo: Cai Xianmin
By Li Xiang
China Eastern Airlines and its subsidiary, Shanghai Airlines, will raise the prices of their first-class and business-class domestic tickets, according to a joint announcement issued on Friday.
The price hike will affect flights on the Beijing to Shanghai route, which has the largest group of business passengers and the highest occupancy rate, as well as other domestic routes operated by the carriers.
"We have been notified of the price hike, but we still have to figure out when it will take effect," a senior member of staff at China Eastern Airlines, who asked to remain anonymous, told the Global Times Sunday. "Personally, I think that the new prices will kick in before Wednesday."
The price of first-class and business-class tickets on China Eastern Airlines and Shanghai Airlines between Beijing and Shanghai will be raised to 2.5 times and two times the full price of an economy ticket, or 3,767 yuan ($556) and 2,785 yuan ($411), the source said.
First-class and business-class tickets for flights departing for other domestic destinations from Shanghai will be raised by two times and 1.8 times the full economy price respectively. Non-Shanghai domestic flights will be pegged at 1.8 times the economy price for first-class and 1.5 times for business-class.
Full-price first-class tickets with the airlines between Shanghai and Beijing currently cost 2,260 yuan ($333), while for business-class they cost 1,810 yuan ($267). These are 1.5 times and 1.3 times the price of full-price economy tickets respectively, as previously mandated by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC).
However, on June 1, CAAC and the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) relaxed restrictions on the pricing of domestic tickets for first-class and business-class tickets, allowing airlines to set their own prices. Caps remained for economy-class.
"With the ability to set their own prices for non-economy tickets, airlines can make enough money to provide a better service for premium passengers," Chen Ying, director of flight attendants for China Eastern Airlines Shanghai- Beijing route, told the Global Times. "Furthermore, each airline will have more freedom to specialize their services."
