Airlines quick to drop discounts

Impact of high-speed railway not as bad as originally expected

BEIJING - Seeing a string of malfunctions and ensuing delays on the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway in the past week, domestic airlines stopped giving deep discounts and started charging higher prices for air tickets between the two cities over the weekend.

According to Ctrip.com, an online travel service, the cheapest price for flights from Beijing to Shanghai in the next four days are 720 yuan ($111) before the airport construction fee and the fuel surcharge. This amounts to 36 percent off the full ticket price of 1,130 yuan.