Have you ever imagined booking an air ticket via mobile Internet
no matter where you are? This new convenience became available on
Monday when Spring Airlines and the China Construction Bank jointly
launched their new service, the first in China.
A demonstration at the launch ceremony showed that there are
only five steps to follow to successfully book an air ticket via
mobile phone. Passengers have to confirm twice when they complete
their order and pay for the ticket, to avoid any mistakes.
Additionally, passengers can also get flight information through
the new service. "You can access our website through a handset and
find the best air ticket discounts for the same flights here," said
Wang Zhenghua, Board Chairman of the private airline.
Aiming to encourage people to choose the new function, Spring
Airlines will randomly select three passengers a day and refund
their air fare (excluding fuel surcharge and airport tax). At the
same time, new service users will be given priority access to 1500
special low-price tickets the airline offers every day.
Currently, 70 percent of Spring Airlines' business-class tickets
are booked via Internet payment. Mobile Internet will further
change the traditional way to book air tickets.
The budget airline also decided to sell one-yuan tickets again
when policies are further relaxed regarding airfares.
Late last year the company was fined 150,000 yuan by Jinan Price
Bureau in east China's Shandong Province for selling more than 400
one-yuan tickets for flights between Jinan and Shanghai.
Currently, the occupancy rate for Spring Airlines is 95 percent,
according to Wang.
"The 5 percent vacancy rate is sheer resources waste. A one-yuan
ticket is in fact a kind of resource integration," he said. "It not
only adds to our reputation but also enables more passengers to get
low-cost air service."
The budget carrier also plans to slash its air ticket prices 46
percent lower than the average market level next year, compared
with the current 36 percent.
In the past two years, the airline operated 8 aircraft and made
a profit of 67 million yuan, far above the industry average.
In order to make money when the company aims to build its brand
with low-price air service, the carrier tries every means to reduce
cost.
Unlike its big rivals, the private budget airline does not
provide a free air food package. Instead it only offers a small
bottle of mineral water at no charge and passengers must pay for
other snacks. Stewards also try to persuade their passengers to buy
souvenirs which carry the company's logo and website address.
Spring Airlines also chooses level-2 airports to reduce costs.
According toWang Zhenghua, airport service fees account for some 10
percent of the total cost for his company.
In a busy level-1 airport, it costs over 10,000 yuan for an
Airbus 320 to land and take off once. The charge is much lower in
Level-2 airports. The use of level-2 airports can save the budget
carrier as much as 50 million yuan a year.
The company also utilizes a slew of measures to reduce fuel
consumption, which makes up 40 percent of the operating costs. In
this way, another 30 million yuan is saved, almost equal to last
year's profits.
However, the company does not place cost above safety. Last year
alone, they invested as much as 60 million yuan on safety
management, accounting for 11 percent of the transportation
revenues.
(China.org.cn by Yuan Fang, November 21, 2007)
