China's civil aviation administration has begun to tighten control over air tickets, leaving passengers unlikely to get discounted air tickets for major air routes.

In the case of the Beijing-Shanghai route, passengers have had to pay the 970 yuan (US$117) price in full since the beginning of April, whereas there were discounts of between 40 and 60 per cent during the first quarter of the year.

The General Administration of Civil Aviation of China (CAAC) was behind the campaign.

Li Jun, the administration's vice-minister, told a conference on ticket prices held last week in Changsha, capital of Central China's Hunan Province, that the aviation authority would pay great attention to cleaning up the ticket-sales market across the country this summer and autumn.

Airlines that are shown to have sold discount air tickets in violation of the aviation administration's new ticket policies will be severely punished. They could have regular flights suspended on some air routes.

Li contributed the drop in income experienced by major domestic airlines in the first three months to the cut-throat competition over ticket prices.

"Only with a stable ticket-price level can domestic airlines seek long-term healthy development," he said.

The civil aviation administration pushed 22 major domestic airlines into signing a no-discount agreement during the conference. The airlines promised that they would not violate related ticket-price policies covering 113 domestic air routes. Nearly all the most lucrative routes were included in the agreement.

To reinforce its efforts at cleaning up the market, the administration increased its supervision over ticket prices for 10 major Chinese cities of Beijing, Chengdu, Chongqing, Guangzhou, Haikou, Kunming, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Xi'an and Xiamen. For instance, they sent staff to buy discounted air tickets at local travel agencies and then punished the airlines, using the tickets as proof.

Sources close to the aviation authority said 14 regular flights from nine airlines had been stopped last week because of discrepancies in ticket sales.

Ticket agents in Beijing yesterday admitted they had no more discount air tickets for sale.

( China Daily April 9, 2002)