Summary

  • China Southern Airlines experienced a system bug on November 8th, resulting in error fare tickets being sold for as low as 10 yuan. The issue was resolved within an hour.
  • China Southern Airlines announced that all tickets sold during the system abnormalities are valid, demonstrating their respect for consumer rights.
  • The airline has been implementing cost-reduction measures, which have succeeded both in increasing revenue and attracting criticism from passengers.


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On the evening of November 8th, multiple Chengdu inbound and outbound flight routes of China Southern Airlines had ticket prices as low as 10 yuan ($1.37), 20 yuan ($2.74), and 30 yuan ($4.12). Ordinary consumers could purchase these error fare tickets on the China Southern Airlines app and across various online travel platforms. Many consumers shared on social media platforms that they successfully obtained error fare tickets around 20:00.

A screenshot circulating on social media shows that the airfare for flights from Chengdu to Shanghai is 10 yuan ($1.37) for most days from November 13th to January. However, the results of an evening query on the 10th indicate that the ticket prices have returned to the range of 300-400 yuan ($41-$55).

On the 8th, the duration of the error fare tickets lasted for a little over an hour. Around 22:00, the China Southern Airlines app displayed that ticket prices for multiple Chengdu inbound and outbound flight routes had returned to normal. In response to why the error fare tickets appeared, China Southern Airlines customer service explained that the error fare tickets around 20:00 on that evening were due to “a system bug.”


On November 9th, just after noon, China Southern Airlines announced on its official website and Weibo that all tickets sold during system abnormalities (with successful payment) are valid.

Before China Southern Airlines responded, many passengers doubted whether the tickets caused by the “system bug” would be allowed to be used for travel. Instances of error fare tickets are not unprecedented, and such internal issues are unrelated to consumer purchasing behavior. Adhering to the regular fulfillment of the air ticket contract demonstrates the airline’s respect for consumer rights and can contribute to increasing consumer loyalty.

A China Southern Airlines Airbus A350-900 On The Ground.

Photo: Airbus

Due to the proximity of November 8th to China’s online shopping festival on November 11th (similar to Black Friday), it is likely that many people purchased low-cost tickets from China Southern Airlines on that day. However, as of now, China Southern Airlines has not disclosed the number of tickets sold or the corresponding losses incurred due to this incident.

Other airlines that have sold tickets with erroneous fares have often canceled the flights, but some have caused negative backlash as a consequence. It’s a refreshing change to see China Southern prepared to honor its mistake.

Read more: What are error fares and how do you find them?

China Southern is vigorously implementing cost-reduction measures

China Southern Airlines was actively implementing internal measures to reduce costs during the pandemic. According to the financial reports released by China’s three major state-owned airlines (Air China, China Eastern, and China Southern), in the pre-pandemic year of 2019, China Southern Airlines had the highest revenue but the lowest profit among the three major airlines. However, in the first three quarters of this year, China Southern Airlines ranks in first position for both revenue and net profit attributable to shareholders.

Boeing 787 Dreamliners flying for China Southern Airlines

Photo: Ximo Chen | Shutterstock

However, the strong measures to reduce costs have also sparked some criticism of China Southern Airlines.

In June of this year, China Southern introduced a ‘seat selection payment’ service on its international flights but faced passenger complaints. On most international flights, only a minimal number of seats are exempt from the seat selection fee – for example, on the June 21st Beijing-Osaka flight operated by an Airbus A330-300 with 283 seats, only 17 seats are available for free selection, accounting for just 6% of the total seats. Additionally, the highest seat selection fee approached 50% of the ticket price (with fees ranging from 100 to 350 yuan / $14 – $48).

In October, a passenger posted on their Weibo account a picture of the in-flight meal on China Southern Airlines flight CZ6117 from Shenyang to Xining, showing a meal consisting of four steamed buns and one piece of cabbage. Was this another example of China Southern’s cost-cutting measures?

According to data released by China Southern Airlines, over the past four years, the cost of in-flight meals has experienced consecutive declines. From 2019 to 2022, the cost of in-flight meal supplies for China Southern was 3.975 billion yuan ($550 million), 1.765 billion yuan ($240 million), 1.577 billion yuan ($220 million), and 1.332 billion yuan ($180 million), respectively, with the proportion of total costs decreasing from 2.93% to 1.26%.

Source: China Southern

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