With the opening of the Spring Festival in 2024, it is expected that the civil aviation passenger traffic will reach 80 million, an increase of 9 compared with the Spring Festival in 20198%, an increase of 44 compared with the Spring Festival in 20239%, which is expected to hit an all-time high.
A few days ago, China Southern Airlines, China Eastern Airlines, Air China and other airlines have successively issued new regulations on ticket refunds and changes for airlines. This will bring benefits to the 2024 Civil Aviation Spring Festival passengers.
According to the new regulations of airlines, the rules for ticket refunds and changes have been adjusted, the proportion of ticket refund and change fees has been reduced, and the scope and applicable scenarios of free ticket refunds and changes have been expanded. For example, the new regulations will give passengers more protection if they change their aircraft type, free refunds and changes for expensive air tickets, and relax the rules for cancellations and changes for passengers due to illness.
For economy class passengers, there is no need to figure out the difference between different classes, the actual refund** is subject to the display on the booking page, and the average refund will save about 100 yuan after the implementation of the new regulations. *The relevant person in charge of the travel platform Qunar said that it has received the specific policy of the new regulations on ticket refunds and changes. Xiao Peng, a researcher at Qunar.com's Big Data Research Institute, reminded that after the implementation of the new regulations, full-price economy class can be refunded for free more than 7 days in advance, covering the train ticket sales section (14 days in advance). For popular routes, you can purchase full-fare economy class in advance to ensure travel, and decide whether to keep the ticket depending on the ticket grabbing situation and ticket changes**.
The Spring Festival in 2024 will be characterized by strong aggregates, concentrated peaks, and diversified demand. Zhan Fen, an associate researcher at the China Academy of Civil Aviation Science and Technology, believes that the new regulations issued by airlines for ticket refunds and changes have reduced the cost of changing passengers' itineraries, and the fault tolerance rate and tolerance rate for passenger bookings are higher, which is conducive to meeting passengers' economic and convenient service needs in a wider range, adapting to diversified and temporary travel needs, and stimulating potential travel demand.
Li Ganbin, director of the Policy Research Office of China Eastern Airlines Group, believes that the new regulations on civil aviation ticket refund and reform include "the price of the original ticket purchase channel after ticket purchase is reduced, and it is allowed to re-purchase the ticket in the same ticket purchase channel within 24 hours after ticket purchase, and the original ticket that meets certain conditions will be refunded free of charge". This rule helps to promote airlines to prudently reduce prices before the departure date, which is conducive to the overall stability of air tickets**, reduces the occurrence of "diving" incidents of air tickets** near the departure date, and increases the certainty of air tickets for civil aviation passengers**.
At present, the service guarantee that echoes the new regulations on ticket refund and change issued by airlines is also improving. Liang Nan, Director General of the Transportation Department of the Civil Aviation Administration of China, said that during the Spring Festival in 2024, in order to provide better service guarantee for civil aviation passengers, the Civil Aviation Administration of China requires all civil aviation units to do a good job in service work and provide passengers with a comfortable travel experience. In terms of handling flight delays, we will refine work plans such as information notification, ticket refund and change, accommodation guarantee, transfer and evacuation. The Civil Aviation Administration of China requires airlines, airports and aviation sales network platforms to strengthen on-duty duty, strive to improve the customer service connection rate, and solve passenger demands in a timely manner. The Consumer Affairs Center is required to strictly implement the duty system, closely monitor the trend of complaints, and urge enterprises to do a good job in handling passenger complaints.
The industry generally believes that the new regulations on ticket refund and change issued by airlines are in line with the development trend of the civil aviation industry. With the further expansion of domestic civil aviation travel demand and the industry entering a new development cycle, it is urgent to further optimize services, improve quality, better adapt to passenger travel needs, and better stimulate the growth of aviation market demand. A convenient, efficient and high-quality air transport service system is not only an inherent requirement for the high-quality development of civil aviation, but also a comparative advantage of civil aviation in a comprehensive transportation system. The new regulations on ticket refund and reform are aimed at meeting the needs of passengers, which is conducive to improving the quality of the development of the civil aviation industry and continuously consolidating the comparative advantages of the civil aviation industry.
It is reported that in 2024, the main task of improving the quality and efficiency of the civil aviation industry is to build first-class safety, first-class facilities, first-class technology, first-class management, and first-class service, and promote the formation of a safe, convenient, efficient, green and economical modern civil aviation system. "Driven by a series of deepening reform measures represented by the new regulations, the development momentum of the civil aviation industry will be further accumulated, and the civil aviation industry will better achieve effective qualitative improvement and reasonable quantitative growth. Zhan Fen said. (Economic ** reporter Cui Guoqiang).