And You Thought American LCCs Were Cheap...

A Chinese low-cost carrier has been fined by the government, for selling really, REALLY cheap tickets that violated price controls.

The official Xinhua News Agency reports a travel agency subsidiary of Spring Airlines was fined approximately $20,000 USD for breaking Chinese regulations that set a limit on how much -- and how little -- an airline can charge on a particular route.

The Jinan Spring Holiday Travel Agency sold 400 deeply discounted tickets on flights between Shanghai and the eastern city of Jinan. A regular ticket on that route costs approximately $116.

The travel agent's price? Thirteen cents.

Needless to say, the discount rates proved very popular... with those flights accounting for 10 percent of all Spring flights from November 30 to December 10.

CNN reports Chinese airlines are forbidden from offering discounts greater than 45 percent off the government-set price. Spring's discount amounts to 1/892th of the regular price on the Jinan route.

Three government-run airline groups dominate the vast majority of routes in China.

FMI: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring_Airlines