(Yicai Global) Dec. 28 -- China has opened an investigation into Turkish Airlines, Turkey’s flag carrier, over unduly high ticket prices on flights between Istanbul and Guangzhou.

The Civil Aviation Administration of China will start looking into the airfares and handle the case according to the law and regulations if any violations are turned up, the watchdog announced on its website yesterday.

Recent reports said tickets for the Istanbul-Guangzhou route flown by Turkish Airlines cost more than CNY200,000 (USD31,380) for economy class and over CNY250,000 for business class. In comparison, flights between London and Shanghai with the same carrier cost only CNY13,000 (USD2,040) before the outbreak of Covid-19.

The CAAC said the setting and changing of airfares between China and Turkey must be approved by both governments, according to an agreement between them.

This is not the first case of suspected price gouging. On Nov. 24 the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines asked Xiamen Airlines and Philippine Airlines, the only two carriers to fly weekly between China and the Philippines, to cut prices. Following that, the embassies of Laos and Cambodia in China required local airlines to lower fares and rectify malicious price hikes and block-bookings by agents.

The CAAC will continue to strengthen oversight to protect the legitimate rights and interests of passengers and maintain the order of the international air transport market and stable prices, it said. Travelers should buy tickets through proper channels and report any pricing irregularities to the relevant authorities, it added.

Editor: Futura Costaglione