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Airlines flog 'all you can fly' deals to fill empty seats

china southern airlines, all you can fly deal - getty
china southern airlines, all you can fly deal - getty

China’s biggest passenger airline has launched a new ‘all you can’ fly deal to lure customers back as it strives to recover from the financial impact of lockdown.

The ‘Fly Happily’ deal by China Southern Airlines – the country’s largest carrier by passenger numbers – lets customers purchase a one-off pass for 3,699 yuan (£408), which they can then use to take as many domestic flights as they like until January 6 2021.

Alongside the initial cash injection to help fill its empty coffers, passengers are also charged a small tax of 50 yuan (£6) to further aid the airline’s revival.

It follows a trend for ‘unlimited’ flight promotions among Chinese airlines, with at least eight other carriers having rolled out similar deals to China Southern’s since domestic flights were allowed to resume in May.

Since announcing its ‘Fly as you wish’ deal in June, China Eastern Airlines has sold more than 100,000 passes – priced at 3,322 yuan (£366) – which offer unfettered access to all its weekend flights, while Hainan Airlines sells a similar package for flights in and out of Hainan province.

Elaine Shen, an insurance worker from Shanghai, is one of the many to have taken advantage of China Eastern’s promotion, which the airline credits with boosting passenger numbers to 75 per cent capacity.

“I’m going to Changsha this weekend and Guangzhou the next weekend,” Ms Shen told Reuters. “The experiences are great. I would not be flying this much if it weren’t for this pass.”

The flurry of deals has been hailed as one of the key factors in the Chinese aviation industry’s remarkable recovery since lockdown restrictions were lifted, with flights having now returned to around 80 per cent of pre-coronavirus levels.

Passenger numbers have also rebounded considerably, although air traffic is still just 70 per cent of the numbers reported last year.

It's not only Chinese airlines offering low-price flight deals. British Airways is offering return flights to Europe for just £1 under its loyalty scheme.

The airline has offered the deals to its 10 million executive club members. They include popular destinations like Nice, where the slump in demand from the pandemic has meant nearly all flights to the French resort have availability through August.

BA has offered 100,000 “reward” seats at cut rates across its short-haul network, with a number priced at only £1 and up to 18,000 loyalty or Avios points. Vienna, Amsterdam and Nice have the most availability.

British Airways is listing flights to Nice for just £1 - Getty
British Airways is listing flights to Nice for just £1 - Getty

Ryanair and EasyJet have also slashed prices. Ryanair has cut its prices on one-way flights from London Southend to Bilbao to £9.99 for Aug 27; to Pisa to £9.99 on Aug 19; and to Valencia at £9.99 on Aug 22.

EasyJet is offering London Gatwick to Alicante at £35.99 on Aug 10; to Barcelona at £28.99 on Aug 18; to Madrid at £26.99 on Aug 17; to Bordeaux at £40.99 on Aug 16; to Crete at £30.99 on Aug 23; and to Faro, Portugal, at £26.99, on Aug 11.

David Skillicorn, commercial director of Prestige Holidays, said this model of price-cutting was necessary to rebuild confidence.

“It is in the airline’s interest to fill these planes, get them moving, get people to come back and be interviewed at Gatwick or Manchester and asked, ‘How did you get on? What was the flight like? Did you mind wearing a mask?’” he said.