Chengdu Airport Flight Routes Sold Under 5,000 KRW
China Southern Airlines "Normal Use Possible Without Additional Charges"
China Southern Airlines, one of China's three major airlines, experienced an incident where domestic flight tickets within China were temporarily sold at a minimum price of 10 yuan (about 1,800 won) due to an online sales system error. However, China Southern Airlines acknowledged their mistake and allowed passengers to use the tickets purchased at abnormal prices without cancellation or additional charges.
According to local Chinese media such as Beijing Business Daily on the 9th, around 8 p.m. the previous night, some one-way tickets for China Southern Airlines domestic routes between Chengdu Airport in Sichuan Province and other destinations from this month until February next year were sold for only 10 to 30 yuan (about 1,800 to 5,400 won).
Currently, the lowest one-way ticket prices for routes from Chengdu to Beijing, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Shanghai, and Lhasa in the Tibet Autonomous Region are between 320 and 380 yuan (about 58,000 to 68,000 won), and some tickets for certain routes this week were priced as high as 900 yuan (about 108,000 won). In other words, some tickets sold at ultra-low prices were unbelievably cheap, discounted by more than 90% compared to the normal price.
The ultra-low-priced tickets were available for purchase for about 30 minutes and could be bought not only on the China Southern Airlines website and its ticket sales application but also on numerous online travel platforms. At that time, buyers were skeptical about the ridiculously low ticket prices but proceeded with the booking, and payments were processed normally. Some consumers even thought it was a promotional event ahead of the "Guanggun Festival" on November 11, known as China's version of Black Friday, when large-scale online discount shopping events take place.
Air tickets of China Southern Airlines sold for 10 to 30 yuan (approximately 1,800 to 5,400 won) [Image source=Yonhap News]
However, the reality was quite different. It was a kind of 'accident' caused by a temporary bug in China Southern Airlines' ticket sales system.
China Southern Airlines stated, "This error occurred only in ticket sales for routes related to Chengdu," and added, "The low-priced tickets can be used normally without any additional charges."
In response, Chinese netizens posted on social media (SNS) comments such as "It's good to see them admit their mistake caused by their own error," "China Southern Airlines' decision to allow the use of ultra-low-priced tickets without penalty is commendable," and "Purchasing a ticket at the price of a head of cabbage was an incredible stroke of luck."
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