Japan Airlines ditches ticket promotion after demand crashes website

Japan Airlines (JAL) has cancelled a promotion it held this week discounting one-way domestic flights after an overwhelming demand crashed the airline's website. 

JAL had brought the prices of one-way domestic flights down to 6,600 yen (SG$66) in a promotion for the brand. However, it was forced to halt sales after the website crashed, according to a statement by the airline. It attempted to restore the connection before eventually cancelling the campaign altogether given that there was no hope of recovery to the website, according to its release. The airline then apologised for any inconveniences caused. 

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The JAL website was hit at around midnight on Wednesday when the airline's JAL Smiles campaign went live. The promotion offered domestic one-way tickets at 6,600 yen for adults and 4,950 yen for children. This was for flights between April and June and the offer was set to run for about a week until next Tuesday. 

Unfortunately, users immediately encountered problems with the connectivity of the website which made it difficult for them to purchase and reserve tickets. Flights could still be reserved if they were not part of the campaign through the phone and app, according to The Straits Times. JAL then asked customers to not attempt to access the website until the problem was resolved. 

While the promotion was cancelled, JAL has said that those who managed to purchase tickets will still be able to use them. A similar promotion for flights in June, which was supposed to launch on Sunday, has also been cancelled in light of the issues faced, according to the statement. 

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out to the airline for a comment. 

The news comes after an interesting week for the aviation industry. It is reported that Boeing has secured a deal worth at least US$2.5 billion to sell 21 of its 737 MAX jets to Japan Airlines. This is said to be the first order of the 737 MAX placed by JAL.

Hilariously, several weeks back Japan Airlines (JAL) also made headlines for serving a single banana to  passenger in business class who had ordered the Vegetarian Vegan Meal. According to reports on CNA, passenger said that when she was first served the banana she thought it was an “underwhelming appetizer” but didn’t expect it to be a full meal. "It was a really good banana - one of the best I've had recently - but it still seems more appropriate as a snack. Is catering out of CGK typically this underwhelming?" she questioned. 

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