Hong Kong Airlines offers free tickets to P6 students following viral clip

Hong Kong Airlines (HKA) is offering free flight tickets to three local primary school students, who recently shot to fame for their amusing responses about their study schedule during an interview.  

After the secondary school places allocation announcement on 9 July, an interview clip featuring three Yaumati Catholic Primary School (油蔴地天主教小學) students speaking about their study experiences went viral online.

One of the students said that he had attended tutoring classes from Monday to Friday. "It's hard to say it was difficult, because I think studying is my duty (要講辛苦談唔上，因為我覺得讀書係我本份)," he said.

Immediately, two of his classmates behind him exchanged glances, with one’s jaw dropping, while the other responded with a faint smile. The trio's expressive reactions quickly went viral online.

In response, Hong Kong Airlines trendjacked the video and decided to reward the three students for their hardworking attitudes. It created a post on its Facebook with a caption that says:

“Hong Kong Airlines would like to reward three hardworking students by providing them with free air tickets to enjoy a family vacation! If you or your parents see this post, remember to contact us at inbox as soon as possible, and we will arrange the tickets for you. If anyone else knows these students, please let them know as well!”

“Studying is your duty, and creating happy memories for you is our duty!” it added.

The students will be able to select their desired travel destinations, and the tickets for their family members will also be provided free of charge.

The post has received over 6.9k likes, 640 comments and 39 shares, a check by MARKETING-INTERACTIVE saw. While some netizens praised it as a savvy trendjacking move, some said the air ticket giveaway was a generous gesture.

Media intelligence firm CARMA also observed nearly 1,000 mentions regarding HKA’s move over the past 24 hours. Of these, 24.2% were positive and 13.6% were negative.

Netizens generally found this act interesting and praised HKA for its flexibility, creativity, and prompt action in trendjacking the video, said CARMA’s HK GM Charles Cheung.

On the other hand, the negative mentions primarily came from LIHKG users, who felt that Hong Kong Airlines' campaign was irrelevant, Cheung added. “They expressed a preference for airlines to donate money or give free tickets to those genuinely in need.”

In response, Yaumati Catholic Primary School told local media outlets such as Sing Tao Headline that while the three students involved will remain its pupils until September, the relevant organisations should have no trouble locating them. It will respect the wishes of the students and their parents and have no stance on this particular incident.

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out to Hong Kong Airlines and Yaumati Catholic Primary School respectively for a statement.

Don’t miss: Hong Kong Airlines and Airport Authority HK promote educational travel with ticket giveaway

In fact, this is not the first time HKA has launched student-related initiatives. Back in April, it joined hands with Airport Authority Hong Kong (AAHK) to give away 1,000 round-trip flight tickets to local students, aiming to empower them through educational travel.

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