Cathay Pacific says it will honour first and business-class tickets sold in error in move that could cost it millions
- Hong Kong carrier breaks silence 24 hours after issue came to light and says human error was to blame
- Cathay admits mistake in tweet that ends with #lessonlearnt
Cathay Pacific Airways is to honour first and business-class tickets accidentally sold at economy-class prices, in a move that could cost the airline millions of dollars in lost earnings.
While Cathay has not said how much the technical glitch cost the company, the Post spoke to 11 people who had snapped up 18 first class and eight business-class tickets totalling HK$216,925. Based on the current retail price, the airline should have collected almost HK$5.4 (US$685,800) million from them.
Several thousand tickets are believed to have been sold during the computer error, which has been blamed on an individual entering the wrong fares into the company’s system for flights between Vietnam and North America.
Customers who snapped up these unusually cheap air airfares breathed a sigh of relief after waiting more than 24 hours to discover what the company planned to do.
In a tweet announcing its decision to honour the tickets, Cathay said it hoped the move would make 2019 special for its customers.