Airline will honor tickets purchased for $1.30 during an error

Following a two-hour technical breakdown on its mobile app and other ticket-booking platforms late on Wednesday, Chinese airline China Southern Airlines announced on Thursday that it will honor the sale of tickets priced as low as $1.30.

At approximately 8 p.m. on Wednesday, users of China Southern’s app started posting on social media in Chinese that a large number of flights to and from Chengdu, a city in southwest China, were available for 10, 20, or 30 yuan ($1.37–$4.12).

There has been a screenshot circulating online showing a ticket from Chengdu to Beijing priced at just 10 yuan ($1.37), which is significantly lower than the usual minimum price of 400 to 500 yuan (approximately $55 to $69). Other screenshots from online sources indicated that these heavily discounted prices were available for a brief period of about two hours on the airline’s app and various ticket-booking platforms, including the leading platform, Trip.com.

In addition to the low ticket price, passengers were also required to pay at least an additional 110 yuan ($15) for airport fees and fuel surcharges.

China Southern, based in Guangzhou, stated that passengers who had already purchased and issued these tickets could use them as they would use regular tickets.