Deregulation rumoured for ticket prices

Domestic airlines might be allowed to set their ticket prices within a 40 per cent band, according to various Chinese media reports in November. One website that quoted an unnamed official from the Hainan Airlinesowned Xinhua Airlines went so far as to say that a complete deregulation of prices could be introduced within a year if the consolidation of the country's nine biggest airlines went ahead smoothly. However, South China Morning Post cast doubt on the reliability of the source, saying that Hainan Airlines was the mainland carrier least connected with the central government.