Airline sells out of £5 tickets in less than an hour despite coronavirus fears

Demand has been ‘soft’ on some routes since spread of Covid-19

Helen Coffey
Monday 02 March 2020 13:19 GMT
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Air New Zealand has cut capacity
Air New Zealand has cut capacity

Air New Zealand has sold out of its NZ$9 (£4.40) airfares within an hour of them going on sale.

The airline launched a cheap tickets promotion at 9am (local time), offering 1,000 flights across 32 routes for under £5 one-way.

However, despite coronavirus fears seeing a drop in demand for travel, the cut-price fares sold out incredibly quickly.

The Kiwi flag carrier had seen “some softness in demand” for certain routes amid the outbreak of Covid-19, according to the airline’s chief revenue officer Cam Wallace.

“We now have some empty seats due to travellers mainly from Asian destinations not connecting between New Zealand and Australia,” he told the New Zealand Herald.

“Kiwis and Aussies are going to be able to head away for holidays or to see family and friends or do business for cheaper than a night’s accommodation at most hotels,” he added of the sale.

It follows Air New Zealand cutting fares across the Tasman (the sea between New Zealand and Australia) to as little as NZ$69 (£34) to try to boost sales.

The airline joins Qantas, Jetstar and Virgin Australia in being forced to reduce capacity for routes between the two countries as coronavirus fears and travel advisories hit sales.

Air New Zealand has halved its flights to Samoa after the island to the north-east of New Zealand said all passengers must carry a medical certificate confirming they are fit to travel.

Samoa’s health officials insisted the certificate must be dated within three days of travel in order for travellers to be allowed into the country. The move is aimed at stopping the spread of coronavirus.

Air New Zealand isn’t the only carrier to try to entice passengers with bargain flights.

Airlines in China are also drastically cutting flight prices amid the coronavirus outbreak, including Shanghai-Chongqing one way for just 29 yuan (£3.20).

Chinese carriers are struggling, with two thirds of scheduled daily flights cancelled throughout February.

From 25 January to 14 February, China’s aviation industry confirmed that average daily passenger traffic was 470,000 – a 75 per cent drop year-on-year.

Airlines are now hoping to boost domestic traffic by offering cut-price deals, reports the South China Morning Post, including the £3.20 fare, offered by Spring Airlines for the three-hour, 870 mile flight as a special offer for its frequent flyer club members.

Spring Airlines is also offering Shanghai to Harbin, a journey of 994 miles taking just over three hours, for 69 yuan (£7.60).

Other airlines are running offers too, including Shenzhen Airlines, part of state-owned carrier Air China, which has Shenzhen to Chongqing fares from 100 yuan (£11). This is around 5 per cent of the usual price of 1,940 yuan (£214).

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