Budget carriers from mainland China launch promotional fares starting as low as 5 yuan on March 9

▲ Spring Airlines is offering airfares for just 1 yuan, equivalent to about 5 New Taiwan dollars. (Photo / from Wikimedia Commons)

Travel Center / Comprehensive Report

Spring Airlines, a mainland Chinese budget carrier, announced on the 25th that after the National Development and Reform Commission and the Civil Aviation Administration of China jointly removed the minimum airfare price cap late last year, it will start selling tickets for as low as 1 yuan (all currency figures in this report are in yuan, with 1 yuan approximately equal to 5 New Taiwan dollars) at 10 a.m. on March 9, launching its first major ticket sale of the year.

According to China News Service, Spring Airlines’ promotion covers over 80 domestic and international routes. Among them, the lowest fare is 1 yuan on the Shijiazhuang to Tangshan route. Other routes such as Shenyang to Shijiazhuang, Huai’an to Harbin, Shenzhen to Huai’an, Shenyang to Zhangjiakou, Changsha to Hangzhou, Shanghai to Changsha, and the international route from Shanghai to Jeju also feature a minimum fare of 9 yuan.

The report also noted that Spring Airlines will open its first routes from Shanghai to Osaka this year, with a promotional starting fare of 199 yuan; flights from Shanghai to Chiang Mai in Thailand and Da Nang in Vietnam will have a starting fare of 399 yuan.

Zhang Wu’an, spokesperson for Spring Airlines, stated that with the removal of the fare floor, airlines will independently set ticket prices based on peak and off-peak seasons, and may release more low-cost tickets during off-peak times to stimulate demand.