Passengers queue up for boarding passes at the Beijing International Airport Tuesday, February 10, 2009. Airlines across the country have slashed airfares after the Lunar New Year holiday season. [China Daily]

Foreign firms have reduced prices on international flights leaving Beijing and Shanghai, with some cutting as much as 60 percent.

Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, said round tickets for business class from Beijing to European destinations like Frankfurt, London and Paris over a certain period will cost just 11,990 yuan ($1,755), 60 percent lower than the original price, the Beijing News reported yesterday.

Others slashed prices by half, with British Airways saying that passengers flying business class from China to Britain in March and April can take another person for free.

United Airlines also offered a special price of 4,500 yuan for an economy-class round trip between Beijing and Washington DC until March, half of its full price.

Even global carrier alliances are taking action to lift the sluggish travel market.

Oneworld, one of the three global airline alliances, announced that in the next 10 weeks all 10 member airlines will cut 10 percent off any ticket, according to the Beijing News report.

So far, only China Eastern has reacted to the foreign airlines' price cuts.

It said yesterday that round-trip tickets between Beijing and Los Angeles had been cut from 4,000 yuan to 2,700 yuan.

Chinese carriers, however, are more focused on the competition for passengers on domestic routes.

Ctrip.com, an online travel service, said flights from Beijing to Shanghai, Hangzhou, Chengdu and Harbin are now 80 percent cheaper, and from Beijing to Wuhan, Changchun and Xi'an, the discount could even go to 90 percent.