After Cathay Pacific accidentally listed some first-class and business tickets at a discount of up to 95% at the start of the month, the airline tweeted a sheepish “#lessonlearnt.”
Except, it would seem, the lesson hadn’t quite sunk in. The Hong Kong-based airline has repeated the blunder, selling business class tickets from Portugal to Hong Kong at about 14% of their usual price.
Screenshots obtained by the South China Morning Post show a one-way business class flight from Lisbon to London on a partner airline, followed by a Cathay Pacific flight from London to Hong Kong, listed for sale at just $1,512.
For comparison, a business class flight January 18 on the same route is now on sale at $10,950.60, while flights in the following months are priced similarly.
In a statement to CNN, a spokesperson for the airline attributed the unusually low fares to an “input issue” and said they were withdrawn from sale once the error became apparent. “We are looking into the root cause of this incident both internally and externally with our vendors,” the spokesperson said.
Good news for the keen-eyed passengers who bought the discounted tickets, however: mirroring its response earlier this month, Cathay Pacific will honor the erroneous prices. “For the very small number of customers who have purchased these tickets, we look forward to welcoming you on board to enjoy our premium services,” the spokesperson confirmed.
On January 1, the airline inadvertently listed heavily discounted flights between Vietnam and North America. A business-class ticket from Da Nang to New York’s JFK airport, for instance, was offered at $675, compared with a normal price of about $16,000.
Others found business-class fares from Hanoi to New York for only $1,100, and first-class tickets between Hanoi and Vancouver for just $988.
“We made a mistake but we look forward to welcoming you on board with your ticket issued,” the airline tweeted on January 2.