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Download A traveler can't get very far on just 9 yuan ($1.48) in many cities, but from Sunday, that has been the going price for a plane ticket between two major cities in Hebei province that are 500 km apart. Budget carrier Spring Airlines made the first regional flight between Shijiazhuang, the capital city of Hebei, and Tangshan, the economic powerhouse in the north of the province, on Sunday. An Airbus 320, which seats about 180 passengers, is scheduled to make a round trip on the route every day. "The flight shortened my travel time to 40 minutes and cost much less than a train ticket," said Li Wenhua, a businessman commuting between the two cities. "I usually drive cars on business trips, which takes at least five hours, plus the high costs for gasoline and expressway tolls," he said, adding that the long trip makes him exhausted. By bullet train, the trip takes more than three hours and costs more than 128 yuan. Spring Airlines is selling discount tickets for the new air route for only 9 yuan. With fuel surcharges added, a ticket costs only 119 yuan. Tickets for the first flight from Tangshan to Shijiazhuang sold out two days in advance, and more than half of the passengers aboard that flight bought their tickets at the low price, he said. "I have relatives in Tangshan, but I only visit them two or three times a year. This flight will make our visits much easier," said Deng Wenxiu, 55, who lives in Shijiazhuang. | 
