LONDON (dpa-AFX) - Cathay Pacific Airways Limited (CPCAF.OB, CPCAY.PK) has committed a fare blunder for the second time this month by offering steeply discounted premium tickets.
First-class tickets on flights from Lisbon, Portugal to Hong Kong were sold on the Hong Kong-based carrier's website for just $1,512, instead of the $16,000 usually charged for a similar journey, the South China Morning Post reported.
The airline, which does not operate direct flights between Portugal and Hong Kong, offered one-way flights on partner carriers from Lisbon to European cities such as London, Frankfurt or Zurich, with connecting Cathay Pacific flights from these cities to Hong Kong.
First-class flights from Lisbon to Hong Kong - via London with a connecting flight - were offered for $1,512, while a similar first-class trip via Frankfurt would cost $16,000.
'We are looking into the root cause of this incident both internally and externally with our vendors. For the very small number of customers who have purchased these tickets, we look forward to welcoming you on board to enjoy our premium services,' Cathay Pacific said.
On January 1, the airline inadvertently sold business-class seats on flights from Vietnam to North America for as little as $675, instead of the actual fare of $16,000.
Cathay Pacific publicly acknowledged the error after more than a day, but honored all the tickets that were sold in a goodwill gesture.
'...we made a mistake but we look forward to welcoming you on board with your ticket issued,' the airline said on Twitter, with the hash-tags, 'promisemadepromisekept' and 'lessonlearnt.'
Cathay Pacific has struggled against stiff competition from low-cost Chinese carriers. In August, Cathay Pacific reported a loss for the first half of the year that narrowed from the year-ago period, while revenue rose 15.7 percent.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
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