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Panoramic view of Asiana Airlines headquarters. (Photo = Asiana Airlines) |
[Alpha Biz= Kim Jisun] Asiana Airlines mistakenly sold business class tickets for its Incheon-London route at economy class prices, leading to a refund process for affected customers.
According to the airline industry on Monday, the error occurred on February 7 when Asiana was offering promotional business class tickets for the Incheon-London round-trip route. Due to a pricing input mistake, the fare was entered as an "economy special fare."
While business class tickets for this route typically cost around 5 million KRW (approximately $3,750), they were sold for approximately 1.5 to 1.7 million KRW ($1,125 to $1,275).
Upon discovering the error during an internal review, Asiana Airlines issued an apology and notified affected customers about refund procedures. Passengers can choose to pay the correct fare to keep their business class seats or receive a full refund if they opt not to travel.
The tickets sold at the incorrect price were for flights departing after April, meaning none have been used yet.
Such pricing mistakes occasionally occur in the airline industry. In November 2023, China Southern Airlines accidentally sold domestic tickets for as low as 10 to 30 yuan ($1.40 to $4.20), a fraction of the normal price. Similarly, in 2019, Cathay Pacific sold first-class tickets from Lisbon to Hong Kong for just $1,512, roughly one-tenth of the usual fare, due to a pricing input error.
Alphabiz Reporter Kim Jisun(stockmk2020@alphabiz.co.kr)
