Cathay Pacific airfare shock delights passengers; here is why

Cathay Pacific Airways recently was hit by a glitch, to the delight of flyers and now, all eyes are on it as to what action it will take. A Bloomberg report, citing bloggers, said that Asia’s biggest international carrier sold business-class tickets from Vietnam to Canada and the US at economy prices earlier this week. 

According to the report, Gary Leff, a travel and loyalty-program blogger on View from the Wing, wrote on 31st December, that return fares in the premium cabin from Da Nang to New York started at $675 for travel in August, while Travel from Hanoi to Vancouver and back in a mix of business and first class could cost less than $1,000. The report cited the post from One Mile at a Time.

The mistake has added to the to Cathay's woes - the airline is struggling to turn its fortunes around while competition intensifies from Chinese and budget airlines, said the report. It also added that the airline didn’t immediately say if it would honor the bookings.

This incident has come on the heels of a sophisticated hack on Cathay’s computer systems last year that exposed private information of 9.4 million passengers in the world’s biggest airline data breach, according to Bloomberg. 

A spokeswoman for the carrier told Bloomberg on phone that it was aware of the pricing issue and will provide more details later. 

Notably, a business-class return ticket to New York from Vietnam’s Da Nang costs around $16,000 for travel in July and September, Cathay’s website stated on Wednesday. The website, however, shows ticket prices for August.

The carrier had sold tickets to the US and other places from Vietnam in a promotional offer that ended December 31, according to its website. Round trip business tickets to Los Angeles were sold from $2,940, the report added.

In the past, other airlines too have suffered from similar glitches: Singapore Airlines did the same in 2014, while Hong Kong Airlines last year honoured business-class tickets mistakenly sold at economy fares, Bloomberg added.