Not long ago, Spring Airlines just launched ultra-low-cost air tickets for three routes from Shanghai to Yantai, Mianyang and Nanchang, which have been ordered to stop selling because of joint complaints from several airlines. According to the Civil Aviation Administration of China, according to the "Civil Aviation Domestic Air Transport Price Reform Plan" implemented in April last year (hereinafter referred to as the "Plan"), the lowest selling price of the routes from Shanghai to Yantai, Mianyang and Nanchang should not be less than 4.5% of the normal fare, but the low-priced air tickets of 199 yuan and 299 yuan thrown by Spring Airlines on the above three routes far exceeded the prescribed scope, so a notice of no sale was issued. However, while the ultra-low-cost air tickets were stopped, there was a "sky-high air ticket" in the shipping market from Yulin City, an old revolutionary area in northern Shaanxi, to xi 'an, the provincial capital. The air distance from Yulin to Xi 'an is 470 kilometers, and the ticket price is as high as 730 yuan, per passenger kilometer 1.55 yuan. Such an expensive fare obviously runs counter to the industrial development concept of "Volkswagen Aviation".
First, the reason for the "sky-high price"
The domestic air freight rate management of civil aviation has gone through the process of repeated exploration from strict government control to gradual relaxation. In February, 2003, the working group of civil aviation tariff reform led by the National Development and Reform Commission hired experts in economy, price, transportation and civil aviation, and after a long period of investigation and demonstration, it promulgated the Plan on April, 20, 2004, which is the legal basis for the current air fare price guidance.
Article 8 of the "Program" stipulates: "The domestic air passenger transport fares of civil aviation are based on the published fares of various routes sold and implemented by China's current air transport enterprises (with an average of 0.75 yuan per passenger kilometer)"; Article 10 stipulates that "the maximum fluctuation range of fares shall not exceed 25% of the benchmark price" and "the maximum fluctuation range shall not exceed 45% of the benchmark price".
According to this regulation, the air distance from Yulin to Xi is 470 kilometers. Based on the benchmark price of 0.75 yuan per kilometer, each air ticket should be 352.5 yuan, and the maximum fare of each air ticket should be 440.625 yuan. But the ticket of Hainan Airlines is higher than that of 290 yuan.
Article 9 of the "Plan" stipulates that short-haul routes between provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government and neighboring provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government that have already competed with other alternative modes of transportation shall be subject to market-adjusted prices, and the fluctuation range of fares shall not be stipulated.
In scaa, Item 84 of Annex III of the Notice on Issues Related to Domestic Air Freight Management issued by the National Development and Reform Commission is impressively listed. It turns out that Yulin -Xi 'an is a route that "has formed competition with other alternative modes of transportation" and "implements market-adjusted prices and does not stipulate the fluctuation range of fares", and is not limited by the benchmark price, floating upper limit and lower limit determined in Articles 8 and 10 of the Plan. In other words, if HNA wants, the fare of this route can be infinitely high.
2. Is there competition between abalone and mutton noodles?
Yulin -Xi 'an air passenger transport market does not "compete with other alternative modes of transport". Otherwise, why do plane fares keep rising, while train and bus fares remain unchanged? And why are there several Yulin -Xi 'an sleeping cars parked next to the railway station every day to attract business, but there are no sleeping cars next to the airport to attract business? Are the operators of automobile transportation and railway transportation lacking market competition consciousness? Of course not, these are the embodiment of economic laws, which can only explain one truth, that is, Yulin -Xi 'an air transportation "has not formed competition with other alternative modes of transportation".
As we know, competition is launched between enterprises that provide similar goods (services) or similar substitute products, and there is no competition between enterprises that provide goods (services) with great differences in attributes. Between Yulin and Xi 'an, the ground distance is long, the mountain road is rugged, the expressway has not been completely connected, the railway design standard is low and the transportation load is heavy. From the perspective of transportation time, the plane only takes 50 minutes, while the train and car have to bump for more than ten hours; In terms of comfort, airplanes are significantly higher than trains and cars; Considering the safety factors, although flying in the sky is not as practical as flying on the ground, in terms of the probability of accidents, the plane is lower than the train and much lower than the car. Therefore, as far as the specific traffic conditions of Yulin -Xi 'an are concerned, there are great differences between air transportation, railway transportation and automobile transportation, which do not belong to the same or similar alternative goods (services) and do not belong to the same competitive market. For example, although abalone and mutton instant noodles are both foods, their commodity attributes are far from each other, so even the two shops next to each other will not compete with each other.
In the market, merchants subdivide the market according to customers' economic strength, purchasing behavior and different preferences to determine marketing objectives and marketing strategies. As far as the choice of consumers' economic behavior is concerned, some consumer groups are not very sensitive to the price of goods, such as a certain level of civil servants and powerful businessmen, who aim at convenience, comfort and identity and put economic factors in a secondary position. In order to obtain monopoly profits, control the number of flights and limit market supply, HNA Company has made customer orientation a high-end consumer group, thus creating "sky-high air tickets".
The air fare from Yulin to Xi 'an is 545 yuan higher than that of soft sleeper (185 yuan) and 6265438 yuan higher than that of hard sleeper (109 yuan). At present, the full-price ticket of China Eastern Airlines MU5 128 Beijing-Shanghai flight is130 yuan, and the lowest discount fare is 340 yuan, which is lower than the soft sleeper fare of Beijing-Shanghai T 103 train (the soft sleeper fare is 499 yuan) 159 yuan, and only 65,438 yuan higher than the hard sleeper fare.
By comparison, we can see that there is no competition among planes, trains and cars in Yulin-Xi 'an passenger transport market. HNA Company is positioned in the high-end market, while railway transportation and automobile transportation are positioned in the mass market, each occupying its own territory, just like Guan Yu and Qin Qiong dynasties, there is no comparison and competition.
Therefore, we believe that the air transportation between Yulin and Xi 'an "does not compete with other alternative modes of transportation", and the provisions of Article 9 of the plan cannot be used as the basis for approving the air fare between Yulin and Xi 'an. Hainan Airlines took advantage of its monopoly position in Yulin aviation market, misinterpreted individual statements in the plan and created "sky-high air tickets".
There is such a set of figures in the Notes on the Drafting of Fare Reform Scheme: "Based on the level of 200 1, from the perspective of transportation costs and expenses, when the average passenger load factor is 60.8%, the total cost per kilometer of domestic routes is 0.62 yuan on average, plus the civil aviation infrastructure construction fund and business tax, it is 0.68 yuan. Compared with the current benchmark ticket price level of 0.75, its cost profit rate is about 10%. That is, when air transport enterprises sell at full fare, they have certain profitability and self-development ability. " The "Drafting Instructions" also pointed out: "According to the affordability of passengers and the reflection of domestic airline fare levels in all aspects of society, it is not appropriate to continue to raise the actual sales fare level. At the same time, considering the smooth transition of reform and other factors, it is determined that the fare level of domestic routes implemented by China's current air transport enterprises is still the benchmark price, that is, 0.75 yuan per capita. "
In the case that every flight on the Yulin-Xi 'an route is basically full, the average passenger/km per ticket in 730 yuan is 1.55 yuan, and its monopoly profit reaches 12.43 times of the average profit of the same industry, which seriously violates the relevant provisions of the Planning.
Third, the "sky-high ticket" has seriously damaged the interests of all parties.
First of all, the "sky-high air ticket" has increased the business operation cost of Yulin. Not only does HNA get tens of millions of dollars of monopoly profits from this route every year, but also the prices of flowers, seafood and other commodities that need to be transported in time are high because of high fares, which seriously restricts the development of these industries.
Secondly, the "sky-high air ticket" has also become a bottleneck for Yulin tourism to become bigger and stronger. Aviation industry is the engine of tourism, which has a multiplier effect on promoting the development of tourism. When developing tourism in Xinjiang and Hainan, we should first take measures such as the negotiation ability of the government, introducing competition and financial subsidies to reduce air fares, thus attracting a large number of tourists. After the Xi- Yinchuan route "Scheme" was issued, Shandong Airlines launched the lowest benchmark fare 270 yuan, and Hainan Airlines Yulin -Xi route 730 yuan never discounted. With such a big gap, what can be done to persuade tourists not to go to Hu Sha in Yinchuan but to Hongjiannao in Yulin?
Third, HNA's "sky-high ticket" has also formed unfair competition for other airlines. HNA's high profits on Yulin -Xi 'an route can be subsidized to other routes, where it can compete with other airlines at low prices (for example, HNA once launched a "10% discount ticket to Hainan", which was once called "killing each other" in the industry), squeezing more market share and bringing greater price pressure and operational risks to other airlines.