Bumpy start for HK Express ticket sale as Hong Kong hopefuls face long queues, website issues
- Three-day initiative with 100,000 air tickets at a starting price of HK$10 launched at noon, with fares to five destinations
- Frustrated users flood airline’s Facebook page, leaving messages such as ‘fix your website please’
A three-day online sale of 100,000 HK Express air tickets at a starting price of HK$10 (US$1.28) got off to a bumpy start on Saturday with Hongkongers facing long queues and technical difficulties on the carrier’s website.
The budget arm of Cathay Pacific Airways opened the sale on its website at noon, offering one-way fares to Fukuoka, Kaohsiung, Ningbo, Jeju and Phuket for travel between November 10 and June 30 next year.
The initiative, which runs until Monday, was launched to mark the 10th anniversary of HK Express. Fares do not include taxes, surcharges or baggage fees.
The destinations to be offered on Sunday and Monday have not been announced yet.
A check by a Post reporter at 11.45am found the carrier’s website was not accessible. At 12.15pm, the website was back online, but there was a message saying the waiting time would be more than one hour. The site was down again at 1pm.
“To continuously deliver a better customer experience, our website is undergoing maintenance and is currently unavailable,” the message said.
Frustrated users flooded the airline’s Facebook page, leaving posts such as “fix your website please” and “I cannot load the page”.