Cathay Pacific error sees $16K tickets sell for $675

Asia’s biggest international carrier Cathay Pacific accidentally sold premium tickets at a fraction of their price and plans to honour the discounts.

The Hong-Kong airline sold business class return tickets from Vietnam to destinations in the US and Canada at deeply discounted prices, according to bloggers. A premium roundtrip ticket from Da Nang, Vietnam, to New York is a steal at $675, according to Gary Leff, a travel blogger on View from the Wing. A return trip from Hanoi to Vancouver on firstclass will cost $988, according to travel blog One Mile at a Time.

Cathay Pacific referred The

National to its tweet when asked for comment about the discounted fares.

The pricing mistake adds to the company’s woes, as it grapples with a turnaround to reverse losses amid fierce competition from Asian budget airlines. The discount ticket gaffe comes after the carrier’s computer system was hacked last year and exposed the personal data of more than 9 million customers.

Mistake fares sometimes occur at airlines due to a human or technical error in computer systems or from currency conversion errors.

A business class return ticket to New York from Vietnam’s Da Nang costs about $16,000 for travel in July and September, according Cathay’s website yesterday.

Other airlines have made similar pricing errors. Singapore Airlines in 2014 and Hong Kong Airlines last year honoured business class tickets mistakenly sold at economy fares. They did not disclose how many people purchased the cheaper tickets.