INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Image copyrightGetty ImagesA group of lucky Cathay Pacific customers have scored first-class seats at economy prices, in the second fare
blunder by the airline this month.Tickets on trips from Hong Kong to Portugal were sold on the airline's website for $1,512, instead of
$16,000 usually charged for similar journey
The carrier said it would honour the tickets as it investigates the cause of the error
It extends a recent run of blows to the firm including a huge data breach
The mispriced fares were available on Cathay Pacific's website on Sunday
A similar first-class journey through Frankfurt would cost $16,000
In a statement, the Hong Kong carrier said it would honour the tickets
"We are looking into the root cause of this incident both internally and externally with our vendors," it said
"For the very small number of customers who have purchased these tickets, we look forward to welcoming you on board to enjoy our premium
services." Just two weeks ago the airline made the same blunder
Lucky flyers made off with business-class seats on flights from Vietnam to New York for about $675 return
They should have cost $16,000
At the time, the carrier acknowledged its "mistake" and again, said it would welcome the passengers onboard
Airlines have a mixed history of honouring tickets sold in error
Singapore Airlines, for example, honoured tickets sold for less than half price in 2014
But United Airlines cancelled transatlantic tickets sold for less than $100 by a "third party software provider" the following year.The
latest stumble extends a bad run for Cathay Pacific.In October, the firm was the subject of a data breach in its IT systems, jeopardising
the personal information of up to 9.4 million passengers.A month earlier, it had to send one of its planes back to the paint shop after
spelling the airline's name "Cathay Paciic" on the side of a jet.Image copyrightCathay PacificImage caption
The Hong
Kong-based airline joked "Oops this special livery won't last long" after the error was pointed out
Those missteps come as
the airline tries to return to profitability after posting its first ever back-to-back annual loss in March.Cathay Pacific has struggled
against competition, particularly from low-cost Chinese carriers covering Hong Kong, mainland China and South East Asia.
