(Yicai) March 17 -- China’s three largest airlines have opened their own apps for booking domestic air tickets to each other.

The domestic flight search results on China Easter Airlines’ app now also show flights operated by Air China and China Southern Airlines, allowing users to freely book the best option for their needs without any additional fees, Yicai learned. Afterward, the Shanghai-based carrier will settle fares with its peers.

The same options are available on the apps of Beijing-based Air China and Guangzhou-headquartered China Southern.

However, Yicai noticed that prices for the same flight vary across the three carriers’ platforms, with the lowest fare usually displayed on the operator’s own site.

The three airlines began trialing this service last year for routes between their home cities of Shanghai, Beijing, and Guangzhou, an insider told Yicai. The goal was to offer more flight options to their VIP members, especially premium frequent travelers sensitive to flight schedules.

The trial was then expanded to more shared routes and may further broaden to more airlines or international routes in the future, the insider added.

An early example of this type of cooperation is that between China Eastern and Juneyao Air, another Shanghai-based carrier with shareholding ties with China Eastern, which achieved mutual ticket sales on their websites in October 2018.

The practice of selling tickets from rivals reflects Chinese carriers’ efforts to transform their platforms into online travel agency sites. In fact, they are also introducing other services, such as ride-hailing, high-speed rail ticket bookings, global hotel reservations, and visa assistance.

Despite that, online travel agencies like Trip.Com, Qunar.Com, and Tongcheng Travel remain dominant in terms of air ticket sales.

Carriers’ apps lag behind online travel agencies in terms of information technology infrastructure and passenger service systems, a sales executive from a Chinese airline told Yicai, adding that they still need significant improvements to match user experience standards.

Editor: Futura Costaglione