CAAC approved 132 new international routes operated by local and international carriers, and around 60% of the routes connect with lower tier cities in the country.
China Southern has authorized more than 2,000 ticketing agencies including major platforms Ctrip and Alitrip, to sell the airline’s tickets and related products.
China Southern Airlines will allow authorized agents to sell the carrier’s packaged offerings with hotel reservation or other travel contents on third-party platforms.
China Eastern Airlines has raised RMB 8.548 billion in a private placement and Ctrip has become the carrier’s fifth largest stakeholder after taking 3.22% for RMB 3 billion.
Air ticketing in China has turned over a new leaf when four major carriers started to prohibit air ticketing by agents on third-party booking platforms.
Three American airline giants are stepping up route plans in China, making airports of the world’s second largest economy increasingly important as Asia‘s aviation hubs.
Ctrip announced to its ticketing agents that it will no longer let agents sell domestic flight tickets on the platform. The decision was effective from June 17 and applicable to tickets scheduled to fly on and after September 1.
China Eastern Airlines formally released a new agent fee structure for domestic flights paying agent fees by segment and class, effective July 1, 2016.