Chinese aviation industry recovers thanks to ‘unlimited flying’

More and more Chinese airlines are offering passengers the option to fly unlimited on domestic routes on a single ‘flight pass’. The ‘unlimited flight passes’ attract more passengers for Chinese airlines, which helps the airline industry recover.

The strategy appears to be successful: according to analysts, the introduction of unlimited flying has contributed to the fact that the Chinese aviation sector has already largely recovered. Currently, about 80 percent of the old number of flights is operated in China.

Airlines

The conditions and prices differ per airline. For example, China Southern offers the ‘Fly Happily Deal’ for the equivalent of 530 dollars, which allows unlimited domestic flights within China for four months from August 26th. However, a few dollars in taxes have to be paid per flight. China Eastern launched the ‘Fly As You Wish’ deal in June, which only applies to weekend travel. According to state media, 100,000 China Eastern passes have been sold.

A couple of months ago the Vietnamese airline VietJet and Air Asia Malaysia launched a similar program. For a little over 100 dollars, excluding taxes, passengers were allowed to take an unlimited numer of flights. However, the deal was only offered to Malaysian of Vietnamese nationals.

Europe

Perhaps the introduction of ‘all you can fly’ packages could also contribute to the recovery of the aviation industry in Europe, but given the fierce environmental debate in Europe, it is doubtful that many airlines will risk their image for it.

Somewhat comparable is the ‘Explore Norway’ offer, which the Norwegian company Widerøe offered in previous summer holidays. This allowed tourists to fly unlimited within Norway for two weeks for about 590 dollars. It is not known whether or not that offer will return next year.