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Budget airline makes low-fare take-off
By Jin Jing in Shanghai？and Cao Desheng in Beijing (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-07-19 05:59
Shanghai-based private budget carrier Spring Airlines made its maiden flight
yesterday, becoming the newest player in China's fledgling aviation market.
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ceremony was held yesterday at Shanghai's Hongqiao Airport to mark the
maiden flight of private budget carrier Spring Airlines.
[newsphoto/file] |
| At 8:50 am, an Airbus A320 jet took to the sky from its base at Shanghai's
Hongqiao Airport with 180 passengers on board, arriving about one hour later in
the eastern coastal city of Yantai in Shandong Province.
Backed by the Shanghai-based Spring International, one of the country's
largest travel agencies, the airline is one of several privately owned
operations to set up in China following the launch of the Tianjin-based Okay
Airways - the nation's first private airline - in March.
Like Okay, Spring avoids more heavily travelled routes such as
Beijing-Shanghai, focusing on niche markets for tourists and business
travellers.
Its budget fares "are to meet travellers' demands, " the airline said in a
statement.
As a promotion, Spring offered a 199 yuan (US$ 24) fare
for its maiden flight between Shanghai and Yantai, much lower than tickets
offered by other airlines which range in price from 700 yuan (US$85) to more
than 1,000 yuan (US$120).
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