$12.50 for one-way ticket on an Airbus jet in China!

Their profit obviously comes from the overpriced pickled duck wing.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-chinaair19feb19,1,1945410.story?coll=la-headlines-business

In China, Low-Fare Flying Is Seriously No-Frills
Spring Airlines, one of several cut-rate Chinese carriers, charges as little as $12.50 a flight. But rules favor the upstarts’ state-owned rivals.

By Don Lee, Times Staff Writer

SHANGHAI — Spring Airlines gives new meaning to low-fare, no-frills flying.

For a one-way ticket from Shanghai to Qingdao, about the distance from Los Angeles to San Francisco, it charges as little as $12.50. You won’t get a bag of peanuts on the plane, but 50 cents will get you a pickled duck wing.

And don’t plan on packing anything heavy. Passengers are allowed to check bags weighing a total of 33 pounds, about a third of the limit set by most U.S. carriers.

Traveling on Spring makes Southwest Airlines, AirTran Airways and other U.S. budget brands seem like luxury carriers.

Since its debut in July, Spring has flown more than 200,000 travelers to 11 Chinese cities on its three, bright-green Airbus jets. The Shanghai-based airline hopes to have 50 planes in five years.

continue