The daily number of aircraft movements at Harbin Airport has recovered to about 90% in the same period last year. The picture shows passengers getting off the plane one after another at Harbin Airport. Xinhua News Agency

  Our reporter Liu Fawei                       

  The civil aviation industry is going through an extremely difficult test in 2020. The sudden new crown pneumonia epidemic has brought a huge impact to the operation of the civil aviation industry. Since then, as the epidemic has been effectively controlled in China, the travel demand of passengers has increased significantly compared with the previous period, the flight recovery situation has continued to improve, and China's civil aviation industry is gradually recovering.

  Faced with the impact of the epidemic, China's major airlines have chosen to "survive proactively", and "fly as you wish" came into being under this background.

  Fly as you wish: Use price to move the market

  China Eastern Airlines (hereinafter referred to as "Eastern Airlines") is the first airline to "eat crabs". In late June, China Eastern Airlines took the lead in launching the "Fly on Weekend" aviation product. As soon as it was launched, it attracted widespread attention and became a "sweet cake" for a while.

  The relevant person in charge of Eastern Airlines said: "The product of'Flying with Heart on Weekend' is very suitable for the travel needs of people living in two places, working in different places and studying in different places. It is also very friendly to high-travel frequency groups such as travel enthusiasts, photographers, and middle-aged and elderly tour groups. Under normal circumstances, you only need to fly 1-2 round trips to get the fare back. It satisfies the desire to'go home often and see'Go out often' every weekend."

  This innovative move by China Eastern Airlines soon caused other airlines to follow suit in the industry. Companies such as Hainan Airlines and Spring Airlines followed suit and launched products similar to "Fly on weekends". Some are only available during a specific time period, some focus exclusively on official business groups, and some focus on the market segment of parent-child travel. Not only that, some VIP companies at airports have introduced VIP rooms "as you wish", and some hotels have also introduced "as you wish". For a time, free travel became a hot topic in the streets.

  Following the airlines, online travel platforms have also joined the ranks of "Fly with Heart" products. On July 15, Fliggy launched the air ticket "Willful Fly": "You can fly across the country at only 66 yuan, and there are no restrictions on airlines, routes, and travel time." The day of the launch coincided with the opening of cross-provincial (regional, municipal) team tours. Many people immediately placed an order to purchase the "66 Yuan Fei Nationwide" product, and the travel enthusiasm was high.

  Online travel platforms also hope to use such products to drive the consumption of other travel products. Cui Yupeng, deputy general manager of Fliggy’s domestic business department, said: “Summer vacation is the peak season of the year, and I believe it will bring many tourist businesses back to life. If the epidemic prevention and control situation continues to improve, tourists should be more enthusiastic about traveling during the National Day Golden Week. ."

  Appointment consumption is a win-win move

  The global air transport industry financial forecast report issued by the International Air Transport Association shows that in 2020, global airlines may lose 84.3 billion U.S. dollars, and their net profit margin will drop by 20.1%. Affected by the epidemic, more than 20 airlines worldwide have closed down. So far, no airline in China has closed down. On the one hand, this is related to China’s effective defense of the epidemic. On the other hand, it is inseparable from the self-help of the airline.

  Dong Yanling, dean of the Institute of Regional Economics of Shandong University of Finance and Economics, told reporters: "The civil aviation industry is an industry with huge investment. Affected by the epidemic, major airlines are facing greater pressure on cash flow. At this time, products such as "Fly with Heart" are launched. It is a way for airlines to save themselves, which can effectively reduce the pressure on cash flow. More importantly, it can increase the stickiness of users to their airlines and lock in customers in advance."

  For airlines and consumers, "Fly with Heart" is undoubtedly a win-win product, which can not only effectively stimulate the recovery of the aviation industry, but also restore customers' confidence in travel and save them travel expenses. "You have flown 10 times and you have saved 15,180 yuan." Xu Haoyang, who lives in Guangzhou, has since bought the "Flying as You Like" package, as long as he has time, he plans to go there on weekends. He said: "I just bought Eastern Airlines' "Fly with Heart" some time ago, and I have already earned my fare. Two days ago, I started with China Southern Airlines' "Happy Flight", flying back and forth from Guangzhou to the country without any pressure. This year I’m not busy walking around and taking a look."

  For online travel platforms, "fly as you wish" can achieve online drainage, and through the "air ticket + hotel + ticket" product combination, it will drive more tourism consumption and help the recovery of the entire tourism industry chain. For example, Hainan Airlines launched the "HNA Fly with Heart, Happy Gathering Free Trade Port" product, which organically combines air travel with outlying island duty-free. As of August 6, consumers who purchased this product have booked a total of 12,904 air tickets and traveled 8,605. Times.

  Broad prospects for air travel consumption

  "Fly as you wish" is one of the airlines' marketing methods. In recent years, airlines have been experimenting with various marketing activities, such as opening up their own frequent flyer membership system and launching joint credit cards with banks.

  The epidemic has accelerated the innovative marketing of airlines. Not long ago, China United Airlines launched the "Blind Box Pilot" product. Tourists can choose their place of origin in 44 cities, and their destinations are randomly matched on the flight route.

  According to China United Airlines, the "Blind Box Pilot" is a new initiative that combines future travel trends and its own characteristics. It can discover more personalized and differentiated products and gameplay in order to further activate the invisible market and fill The market is blank.

  With the improvement of the domestic high-speed rail speed and the continuous improvement of the high-speed rail network, the civil aviation industry is facing increasing competition pressure in the travel market. Only by providing passengers with more convenient services can it win the favor of more consumers. "In addition to the major airlines in the ticket sales process, the airport can also introduce more market-oriented products and services, and introduce more chain stores. When the prices of catering and specialty products in the airport are getting closer to the market prices, passengers will be Consumption will also be more vigorous.” Dong Yanling believes that “air travel is an important part of the travel industry chain. In the future, airlines and airports can further sort out and integrate resources in the travel chain and make an article on this.”

  No matter how good the marketing method is, it must be supported by good service quality. The relevant person in charge of China Eastern Airlines introduced that since the launch of "Fly with Heart", China Eastern Airlines has continued to pay attention to the flight operations of popular routes and dynamically optimize capacity. At present, the percentage of bookings for weekend flights on some popular routes has reached 90% of total passengers. In order to ensure the smooth travel of the majority of passengers, China Eastern has also replaced popular routes with larger and more comfortable models including the international long-range flagship model Boeing 777 to serve passengers.

  Some people in the civil aviation industry said that it is expected that the price of air tickets may increase to a certain extent in the future. "Flying as you wish" can just help tourists save a fortune, but it is also necessary to pay attention to the rules of use before booking and traveling to avoid unnecessary losses. . We expect that "Flying with Heart" can become "Shu Xinfei" and "Flying with Peace", driving the recovery of the entire tourism industry chain.