CAAC responds to complaints about "Flying with Heart" products

Launching upgraded air ticket packages to increase product rule transparency

　　At a press conference held by the Civil Aviation Administration of China yesterday, the Deputy Director of the Transportation Department of the Civil Aviation Administration Shang Kejia stated that the Civil Aviation Administration of Make improvements: including clarifying and optimizing product use rules, strengthening information notification, and improving follow-up consumer service guarantee measures.

　　This newspaper reported on March 25, "Why is it a bit "heartbreaking" to buy China Southern Airlines "Happy Flying" products".

"Difficulty in exchange", "arbitrary cancellation of flights", "daily delivery of 20,000 economy class" and other issues have been questioned by consumers.

　　Regarding the question of how to supervise products such as Happy Flying and Free Flying, Shang Kejia, deputy director of the Transportation Department of the Civil Aviation Administration of China, said that the Civil Aviation Administration has recently paid attention to this issue. Since last year, the new crown epidemic has caused a huge impact on the civil aviation industry. The company has suffered serious losses. In order to stimulate market demand and increase passengers’ willingness to travel, some domestic airlines have successively launched package ticket products such as Xpress Flight and Happy Flight. Due to their relatively low prices and flexible usage rules, they are welcomed by the majority of passengers, and at the same time, they are very attractive. The recovery of the industry has played a positive role in boosting consumer confidence.

　　Package ticket products are special products launched by airlines during the epidemic, and have certain restrictions in terms of usage rules and exchange ratios.

Recently, passenger travel demand has increased rapidly, especially during the small and long holidays, there has been an explosive growth of 200%-300%. Then, package products have been produced in peak hours and on popular routes, with fewer redeemable seats, more conditions, and difficult problem.

In addition, due to the spread of epidemics and flight reductions in individual areas, passengers' redeemed tickets could not be used normally, which also caused related complaints.

　　Shang Kejia said that the Civil Aviation Administration attaches great importance to this and recently held a meeting to address these issues, requesting relevant airlines to make improvements.

At present, many companies have launched upgraded air ticket packages in line with market conditions, which increase the rationality and transparency of product rules. We believe it will be easier for passengers to accept and recognize.

In the next step, the Civil Aviation Administration will, while supporting innovative services of airlines, strengthen supervision and protect the legitimate rights and interests of passengers, so as to tangibly increase the sense of gain among aviation consumers.

This group of articles / our reporter Lin Lishuang coordinated / Yu Meiying

　Related

　　Civil aviation guarantees in the first quarter

　　Daily average of 12,000 flights of various types

　　At the regular press conference of the Civil Aviation Administration, Wu Shijie, deputy director of the Aviation Safety Office of the Civil Aviation Administration, introduced that in the first quarter, a total of 1.052 million flights of various types were guaranteed, with an average of 12,000 flights per day, an increase of 23.7% compared with the same period in 2020, compared with 2019. Compared with the same period, it decreased by 27.6%.

The national flight regularity rate was 91.2%.

　　In terms of safe operation: In March, the industry completed 963,000 hours of transportation aviation flight, a year-on-year increase of 130.7%; general aviation flight hours were 103,000 hours, a year-on-year increase of 212.4%.

There were no aviation accidents, and the industry's safety production continued to maintain an overall stable trend.

As of the end of March, national transport aviation had continued to fly safely for 127 months, with 91.71 million hours, and safely transported 4.72 billion passengers.

　　In terms of production and operation: In March, the total transportation turnover, passenger transportation, cargo and mail transportation volume were 8.92 billion ton-kilometers, 47.82 million passengers, and 655,000 tons, respectively, an increase of 128.5%, 215.7% and 35.4% year-on-year.

　　Compared with before the epidemic, the total transportation turnover is equivalent to 83.7% of the same period in 2019, and the momentum of recovery is good; passenger traffic is equivalent to 89.4% of the same period in 2019, of which 47.683 million passenger traffic was completed on domestic routes, which has exceeded 2019 The same period level; cargo and mail transportation volume increased by 3.7% compared with the same period in 2019, of which all-cargo aircraft completed cargo and mail transportation volume of 264,000 tons, a year-on-year increase of 4.6%.

　　In the first quarter, a total of 20.3 billion ton-kilometers, 102 million passengers, and 1.782 million tons of total transportation turnover, passenger transportation, and cargo and mail transportation were completed in the first quarter, representing a year-on-year increase of 22.8%, 37.5%, and 28.7%, respectively, for the same period in 2019. 65.6%, 63.4% and 106.2% of the total.

　　Operational support: In March, a total of 438,000 flights of various types were guaranteed, an average of 14,000 flights per day, an average daily increase of 116% year-on-year and a month-on-month increase of 48.3%.

The national flight regularity rate was 86.8%, maintaining a relatively high level.

　　RAM

　　China Southern Airlines’ "Happy Flying 2.0" package was complained

　　The so-called "Happy Flying 2.0" package is a product launched by China Southern Airlines on January 4, 2021. Users can redeem air tickets on any domestic route (except Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan) within a limited date and number of times. The package price is 3899 yuan and 3999 yuan. Yuan two files.

　　However, since then the product was exposed to the promise of "providing no less than 20,000 seats per day" and the supply was cut in half to only 11,900 seats, triggering consumer complaints and questions. Some consumers who have purchased "Happy Flying 2.0" of China Southern Airlines complained too much. In addition to the shrinking of tickets, there are also many problems such as "difficulty in exchange", "cancellation of flights at will", "not timely resolution of complaints" and so on. On March 25, this newspaper reported on the topic "Why is it a bit "heart-blocking" to buy China Southern Airlines "Happy Flying" products", which aroused concern.