(Combating new crown pneumonia) China ’s economic war "epidemic" record: Air ticket prices "diving" means that China's economy is cold?
China News Agency, Beijing, March 3rd: The "epidemic" record of China's economic war: "Diving" for air tickets means that China's economy is suffering?
Author Wang Qingkai
Recently, the ticket prices of some airlines in China have "dived", and some analysts believe that this is a sign of the Chinese market's cold weather and economic downturn. But civil aviation experts hold the opposite view: This actually indicates that the Chinese market is gradually recovering.
Some routes have a "big dive"
Regarding the fact that the Shenzhen Airlines fare from Shenzhen to Chengdu costs only 5 yuan (RMB, the same below), Shenzhen Airlines told reporters from China News Agency on the 3rd that the official minimum price of the flight on that day was 90 yuan, and a 50 yuan infrastructure fee was added. A total of 140 yuan is required. "Shenzhen Airlines is not sure of the authenticity of the 5 yuan fare through the Internet. It does not rule out that it is a marketing gimmick for third-party ticketing platforms."
However, many airlines have said that the recent discount on air ticket prices is indeed greater. "Generally speaking, the price of air tickets will decrease after the Spring Festival, but this year and the same period of previous years, the decline is even greater."
The reporter inquired about the online ticketing platform Feizhu.com, which took off from Shanghai Pudong and landed in Jiangbei, Chongqing, three hours later. It only costed 59 yuan, a discount of 0.3% of the full ticket, and even experienced a business class, it was only 640 yuan.
During the same period, the high-speed train from Shanghai to Chongqing took 11 hours, with 859.5 yuan for second-class seats and 2680.5 yuan for business seats.
There is even lower, the lowest price of a flight from Shenzhen to Chongqing is only 30 yuan, with a discount of 0.2%.
China News Agency reporters learned from multiple ticket sales platforms that affected by the epidemic, ticket prices for many flights across the country showed a "big dive". In addition to discounts on flight fares from Chongqing, some flights to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and other cities also saw a discount of about 1%.
The expression "the price of cabbage sold on the ticket" does not seem to be an exaggeration.
According to the relevant person in charge of Feizhu.com, domestic air ticket prices during the resumption period this year are generally lower, and the average price of some cities has fallen by 50% year-on-year. According to travel order statistics, at this stage, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Guangzhou, Beijing, and Shenzhen are relatively concentrated destinations for returning workers, but the average fares of popular routes in these cities have also decreased by about 20% year-on-year.
"Diving" for air tickets signals market recovery
In the opinion of senior civil aviation expert Lin Zhijie, the recent emergence of some heavily discounted air tickets shows that the Chinese market has entered a gradual recovery phase. "In the early days when everyone was segregated, the fare stimulus to passenger flow was limited. However, as the passenger flow resumed after resumption of work, fare became a stimulus and price elasticity will play a role."
With the accelerated pace of resumption of work and production in various places, some local scenic spots, hotels, and guesthouses have also resumed opening up. After being suppressed for a period of time, consumer demand for travel has bottomed out, but due to the relatively scattered air ticket booking, it is still after the Spring Festival In the traditional off-season, ticket prices are still at the bottom.
The reporter combed and found that most of these "diving" tickets are from first-tier cities to cities with large labor export provinces, while fares from passenger sources to major cities such as Beijing and Shanghai are relatively small.
Does the airline pay for the "cabbage price" of the ticket?
Lin Zhijie said that airlines set fares very low. If you look at the price of air tickets alone, they will definitely lose money. But the reason why airlines dare to launch these low-priced tickets is that the marginal cost of air tickets is very low.
"One flight is determined to fly, and one more passenger, so the added cost is actually very low, about 100 yuan." Lin Zhijie said that for domestic flights, as long as one passenger ticket can sell for 100 yuan or more than 150 yuan Will be able to recover the cost of this passenger and have a beneficial contribution to the airline.
At present, the resumption of work and production in various places is progressing in an orderly manner, and the capacity of civil shipping is also being restored.
A reporter from China News Agency learned from Beijing Daxing International Airport that in order to do a good job of transport protection for resumption of production and restart, Daxing Airport optimized and supplemented the night bus routes and stations.
Daxing International Airport adjusted the original Beijing Xuanwumen Night Line to Dongzhimen Night Line, and added stations such as Beijing Station, International Trade Bridge, Dongzhimen Bridge and Chaoyangmen Bridge, with a total of 13 drop-off stations. At the same time, the Guanyuan Bridge night route was added. The Guanyuan Bridge night route has 11 drop-off points including Lize Bridge, Liuli Bridge, Gongzhufen Bridge and Fuxingmen Bridge, covering major aviation passenger sources such as the International Trade and Financial Street in the East-West Third Ring Road. (Finish)