(Yicai Global) Dec. 1 -- Xiamen Airlines and Philippine Airlines, the only two carriers to fly weekly between China and the Philippines, have cut the cost of a ticket for the flights following a request from the Chinese Embassy in the southeast Asian country. 

It is the first time since the outbreak of Covid-19 that airlines have lowered fares to China at the request of an embassy. Not even China’s aviation regulator has stepped in to push prices down. China’s embassy in Manila asked the carriers to make the tickets cheaper on Nov. 24.

Wang Yue, counselor and consul general at the embassy, told local Chinese-language media that the request was not made to directly intervene in the market through administrative means, but to protect the legitimate rights and interests of passengers traveling to China, as well as improve the relationship between them and the airlines.

Economy class tickets on the route will be capped at CNY20,000 (USD3,145) with Xiamen Airlines and CNY25,000 with Philippine Airlines, according to the same reports, which cited statements by the two carriers.

In late October, agents were selling tickets for Philippine Airlines’ service to Tianjin from Manila at CNY46,999 each, with some even pricing them as high as CNY60,000, several times more expensive than the average cost before the pandemic, Yicai Global found.

The two airlines also slashed the Covid-19 test charges, pre-departure quarantine fees, and refund and exchange mechanisms, per the statements.

Editor: Futura Costaglione