China is offering 'cabbage prices' for domestic air tickets. The colloquial terms comes as domestic carriers are offering very low prices for air travel. Chinese carriers had enforced drastic capacity cuts after cases of coronavirus spread across the country. The new price drop is as a result of airlines restoring seat capacity.
A three-and-a-half hour flight from Shanghai to Chengdu on Juneyao Airlines cost just $13 plus taxes. A one-way flight between Shanghai and Chongqing which takes about three hours costs only $4.10 on Spring Airlines, China;s largest low-cost carrier. Spring Airlines also operates flights from Shanghai to Harbin for less than $10. Other airlines are also offering cheap flights within China. Shenzhen Airlines, which is a subsidiary of Air China, is offering $14 flights between Chongqing and Shenzhen, as is Chengdu Airlines for its route between Shenzhen and Chengdu.
Chinese carriers are adding nearly 3 million seats back into scheduled services this week, primarily for domestic routes, according to OAG Aviation Worldwide. China Southern Airlines Co. is adding 684,000 seats and China Eastern Airlines Corp. is increasing capacity by 566,000 seats, Grant said. China’s overall capacity is still only around half the 16.9 million seats available as of Jan. 20, when there were only hundreds of reported infections worldwide, but the recovery this week restores its rank as the second-biggest market in the world after it shrank to smaller than Portugal’s. Online news portal Sina.com said Chinese airlines posted losses of more than 10 billion yuan in February as revenue fell 37 billion yuan, citing industry estimates. Its report late Monday also flagged the availability of tickets at “cabbage prices”as grounded flights get restored.
