Asia's biggest international airline Cathay Pacific accidentally sold premium tickets at a fraction of their price but plans to honour the discounts.
The Hong Kong-based company sold business-class return tickets from Vietnam to destinations in the US and Canada at deeply discounted prices, according to bloggers.
A premium round-trip ticket from Da Nang, Vietnam to New York is a steal at $675, according to Gary Leff, a travel blogger on View from the Wing. A return trip from Hanoi to Vancouver in first-class will cost $988, according to travel blog One Mile at a Time.
A business-class return ticket to New York from Da Nang costs around $16,000 for travel in July and September, according Cathay’s website on Wednesday.
Happy 2019 all, and to those who bought our good - VERY good surprise ‘special’ on New Year’s Day, yes - we made a mistake but we look forward to welcoming you on board with your ticket issued. Hope this will make your 2019 ‘special’ too!
— Cathay Pacific (@cathaypacific) January 2, 2019
.#promisemadepromisekept #lessonlearnt
Cathay Pacific referred The National to its tweet when asked for comment about the discounted fares.
The pricing mistake adds to the company's woes, as it grapples with a turnaround to reverse losses amid fierce competition from Asian budget airlines.
This gaffe comes after the airline's computer system was hacked last year, exposing the personal data of more than 9 million customers in the industry's biggest airline data breach.
Pricing mistakes sometimes happen at airlines due to human or technical issues in the computer system or from currency conversion errors.
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Other airlines have made similar pricing errors. Singapore Airlines in 2014 and Hong Kong Airlines last year honoured business-class tickets mistakenly sold at economy fares. They did not disclose how many people purchased the cheaper tickets.
