China United Airlines (KN, Beijing Daxing International) has been fined CNY443,210 (USD66,400) by the Chinese National Development and Reform Commission (CNDRC) for failure to reimburse passengers that were erroneously charged seat-selection fees last year.

Quoting a CNDRC bulletin, the Communist Party's Beijing Youth Daily said the charges stemmed from the period March 29 to December 23, 2015 wherein a total of 26,853 passengers on seventy-one flights were charged a total of CNY443,210 (USD66,400) in seat selection fees in violation of Chinese law.

Having failed to reimburse the affected passengers despite repeat directives to do so, the CNDRC says it has now decided to fine the China Eastern Airlines (MU, Shanghai Hongqiao) subsidiary a further CNY443,210.

In all, China United will pay a total of CNY886,420 (USD132,800) for the offense.

The LCC operates eight B737-700s and twenty-eight B737-800s on flights to fifty-seven towns and cities across China from hubs at Beijing Nanyuan, Foshan, and Shijiazhuang.