Airfares Drop Along with Oil Prices – Airlines Launch Early-Bird Tickets Starting at 50% Off

▲ Airlines will expand early-bird discount measures for domestic routes. (Photo / From Mandarin Airlines’ We-Senior Club fan page)

Reported by Chen Ruizhong / Comprehensive Report

Recently, due to the continuous decline in crude oil prices, the Civil Aviation Administration has coordinated with airlines to expand the implementation of off-peak early-bird discounted ticket measures for domestic routes starting from December 15, 2014, offering limited early-bird tickets with discounts starting as low as 50%.

Generally speaking, fuel costs account for about 30% of the operating costs of domestic routes. To appropriately reflect the impact of oil price fluctuations on fares, the Civil Aviation Administration took into account an adjustment mechanism in response to oil price changes when adjusting domestic route fares in 2013. According to the aforementioned mechanism, if the domestic aviation fuel price announced by CPC Corporation, Taiwan, averages NT$21.74 per liter for three consecutive months, the domestic route fare reduction mechanism will be activated. Currently, the average aviation fuel price over the past three months is NT$23.9, which has not yet reached the threshold for reducing domestic route fares.

However, in order for the public to feel the tangible benefits of falling oil prices, after coordination by the Civil Aviation Administration, domestic route airlines will expand the implementation of off-peak early-bird discount measures for domestic routes starting from December 15, 2014, with the following related measures:

1. The original 30% off off-peak early-bird discounted tickets (booked 14 days in advance), which were implemented until the end of this December, will be extended until the end of January next year. In addition, starting from December 15, airlines will additionally launch off-peak early-bird discounted tickets with discounts starting as low as 50%.

2. The total number of seats for off-peak early-bird discounted tickets with discounts below 30% will account for 20% of all flight seats, of which the total number of seats for early-bird discounted tickets with discounts between 50% and 65% will account for 10% of all flight seats.

3. To allow passengers to enjoy the 50% to 65% off off-peak early-bird discounted tickets as soon as possible, for off-peak flights from December 15 to 28 that do not meet the definition of “early-bird,” airlines will still offer relevant discounts.

4. In the future, airlines will also periodically introduce relevant discount measures based on the trend of aviation fuel prices.