Shenzhen Airlines is leading the country by drawing up conditions under which it will compensate passengers in cash for inconvenience.

The conditions, which become effective Monday, are based on a series of laws and regulations such as the Aviation Law of the People’s Republic of China.

"We are China's first airline to have promised to compensate passengers in monetary terms," said Yu Juan, a Shenzhen Airlines' customer service officer, Sunday.

According to the new policy, a ticket holder who is unable to take a flight because of overbooking, will be compensated 30 percent of the fare. If a passenger's luggage does not arrive at the destination on the same day as the passenger, he or she will be paid 100 yuan (US$12) for the inconvenience.

If the airline is responsible for delays of four to eight hours, a passenger will be compensated as much as 30 percent of the fare. If the delay is more than eight hours, the passenger will be repaid the full fare, the policy says.

For cargo transport, if a delay is within 24 hours, half the freight charges will be returned to the consignor. If the delay is more than 24 hours, freight will be free.

The policy also states that Shenzhen Airlines will pay compensation for accidental death or serious injury on a flight, with 1.07 million yuan (US$129,201) to be paid for KingClub gold card holders, 870,000 yuan (US$105,050) for silver card holders and 570,000 yuan (US$68,826) for ordinary passengers.

"This compensation will be an addition to other insurance a passenger buys," said Yu.

Shenzhen Airlines will make 1 million copies of the new policy available to customers at its various service areas throughout Shenzhen and its subsidiaries across the country from Monday.

(Shenzhen Daily July 5, 2004)