Chinese airline drops free ticket giveaway to Japan
Source: Xinhua |
October 19, 2012, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
CHINESE budget air carrier Spring Airlines yesterday dropped a promotion on flights to and from Japan just two days after the deal's launch, following online anger at the initiative.
Zhang Wu'an, spokesman for Spring Airlines, said the campaign was canceled mainly due to pressure from domestic Internet users in the wake of Chinese protests over Japan's illegal "purchase" of the Diaoyu Islands.
As a result of the dispute, the number of China-Japan travelers has dropped.
The promotion had been scheduled to run until December 20, offering no more than 50 free tickets for each flight between Shanghai and Japan's Saga and Kagawa prefectures. Under the deal, people were only required to pay airport construction fees and fuel surcharges to fly on the routes.
According to Zhang, more than 2,000 of the tickets were booked by both Chinese and Japanese citizens during the two days that the promotion ran.
It was launched by the privately owned airline to prop up business in Japan, but was rather low profile back at home, he said.
Nevertheless, the promotion grabbed the attention of many Chinese Internet users and most of them were opposed to offering the free tickets.
Many Chinese and Japanese air carriers have announced suspensions of China-Japan services or cuts in the number of such services as the Diaoyu Islands dispute led to sharply lower demand.
The dispute had slashed Spring Airlines' number of air passengers between the two countries by about half, Zhang estimated.
"I don't want to comment on Spring Airlines. But as a Chinese, I have my own choice and stance: I won't fly to Japan even if the tickets were free," wrote microblogger "Lixiafn" on Weibo.
Zhang Wu'an, spokesman for Spring Airlines, said the campaign was canceled mainly due to pressure from domestic Internet users in the wake of Chinese protests over Japan's illegal "purchase" of the Diaoyu Islands.
As a result of the dispute, the number of China-Japan travelers has dropped.
The promotion had been scheduled to run until December 20, offering no more than 50 free tickets for each flight between Shanghai and Japan's Saga and Kagawa prefectures. Under the deal, people were only required to pay airport construction fees and fuel surcharges to fly on the routes.
According to Zhang, more than 2,000 of the tickets were booked by both Chinese and Japanese citizens during the two days that the promotion ran.
It was launched by the privately owned airline to prop up business in Japan, but was rather low profile back at home, he said.
Nevertheless, the promotion grabbed the attention of many Chinese Internet users and most of them were opposed to offering the free tickets.
Many Chinese and Japanese air carriers have announced suspensions of China-Japan services or cuts in the number of such services as the Diaoyu Islands dispute led to sharply lower demand.
The dispute had slashed Spring Airlines' number of air passengers between the two countries by about half, Zhang estimated.
"I don't want to comment on Spring Airlines. But as a Chinese, I have my own choice and stance: I won't fly to Japan even if the tickets were free," wrote microblogger "Lixiafn" on Weibo.
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