| |
 |
Chartering 15 planes to go home
|
DETERMINED to spend the upcoming Spring Festival with families, the city's migrant workers have chartered 15 airplanes to go home, according to Southern China Airlines.
The company further disclosed that of the 360 flights specially designated to handle the Spring Festival rush, many of the city's workers have booked half of them. "The tens of thousands of the workers in SZ have become half of our market for Spring Festival transport. And they have become our most important customer base," said a company official.
In 1995, the Shenzhen Airport saw the first plane hired by migrant workers take off during the Spring Festival transport rush. Since then, the number of chartered planes has increased year by year. Eight planes were chartered in 1998, 11 in 1999 and 15 last year.
Li Chunyang, who is working with a local construction company along with three other people from his hometown, was asked by a journalist why he was willing to spend so much money on a plane ticket. He answered: "Yes, the ticket is expensive, but I return home only once a year so I can afford it. You know, the main reason is that planes are fast. And another big construction project is waiting for us to begin after the Spring Festival."
Observers say the phenomenon reflects rising incomes of the city's workers, not to mention the spread of the notion that "time is money".
|
|
|
|
