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| Jet Airways B-777: international routes |
WHO SAYS BIG IS
BEAUTIFUL? An average Asian travelling to New York just has to contemplate
the French (sorry, “Congress”) Fries the size of surfboards,
shoes large enough to sail the Atlantic and prophylactics bigger
than laundry bags, to throw up his hands in dismay. Michael Jordan’s
footwear alone could accommodate the entire population of Burundi
though you might need a LOT more space if you changed US$1 into
Vietnamese dong.
Nope, Asians are small.
That’s why BIG airlines have SMALL seats and small servings
and small toilets so that we are not offended by any exaggerated
sense of scale. There’s only one thing better than this. SMALL
airlines that offer BIG discounts. See the small airline winners in our Best in Travel Poll 2007.
Send us your Feedback / Letter to the Editor
Twenty years ago you could
cross the Pacific at three US cents per mile eating palate-puckering
stodge and assisting old biddies who claimed to be stewardesses.
But across Asian skies you’d fork out over US$0.26 per mile.
Fortunately, big, and bigger went bust, along with Anna Nicole Smith. The advent of no-frills low cost budget airlines has forced changes that go well beyond customer satisfaction and fewer pilliwinks in consumer pockets. Singapore's famous Changi Airport even has a dedicated Budget Terminal. This is a pared down version reflecting cheap ticket prices. How consumers respond to budget terminals (Kuala Lumpur International Airport operates one as well) remains to be seen but low-cost carriers will welcome diminished ground charges.
They may be low cost and no frills but they certainly have big aspirations. Richard Branson's Virgin, Greek tycoon Stelios Haji-Ioannou's EasyJet, and AirAsia (run by Tony Fernades) have forged a global low-cost airline alliance, a network that would link places like Manchester, Kuala Lumpur, Amritsar, Hangzhou, Tianjin and other secondary cities opening up huge low fare travel possibilities. EasyJet was one of the original Euro low cost carriers and now operates to around 70 destinations in Europe and Britain. Say hello to AirAsia X . AirAsia X - with a 20 percent Virgin stake - plans to be the budget longhaul airline of choice.
Hongkong-based Oasis was already in this market with incredibly affordable long-haul fares for business class and economy class but, in a shock announcement 9 April, 2008, Oasis CEO Stephen Miller announced the airline had filed for liquidation and all flights ground to a halt. The search continues for a viable White Knight who won't pale at the sight of the whopping loss ledger and climbing fuel prices.
Jet Airways launched Mumbai-Hongkong flights 14 April 2008 expanding capacity but not as yet offering more competitive fares
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| Kingfisher Airlines/ photo: airline |
It is not all budget stuff. Asia’s proliferating
small airlines, offer decent service, well maintained aircraft and
surprisingly snappy on-time records. India’s hapless air travellers,
long plagued by mysterious delays, cancellations and flights that
were “pre-poned” (as opposed to postponed), because
overbooked flights took off as soon as seats were full, now have
a choice. Kingfisher Airlines (www.flykingfisher.com) run by the flamboyant Vijay Mallya who says all crew have been "handpicked" by him, took to the skies with brand new Airbus A320-200s seating 174 in a single class with a wider 30-inch seat pitch.
The airline has grown rapidly as an uncompromisingly top-drawer product. Every seat on the A-320 has a personal video screen with 10 audio and five video channels. More A340-500s are in the pipeline. The airline offers a Club and, uniquely, a domestic First Class product, as well as a frequent flier program called King Club. This airline with an attitude describes itself as a "true value full service" carrier. Its latest innovations include Web Check-in where passengers may print out boarding passes at home, and a Roving Agent service at airports where passengers may perform their check-in at the security screening area itself, aided by Kingfisher staff. Kingfisher is rapidly gaining a following in India and has achieved recognition abroad as well. It is not a budget airline. Kingfisher has its sights set on USA and Canada services from India. It has also recently acquired a substantial stake in financially ailing Air Deccan, heralding a new era in consolidation.
Fast-expanding Jet Airways (www.jetairways.com)
has emerged with a fresh brand identity, new corporate colours and uniforms. It has stormed the domestic and international scene flying to over 40 Indian cities, with a loyal following and its
own frequent flier programme, Jet Privilege. Jet Airways has reciprocal arrangements on frequent flier programs (FFP) with Lufthansa, Thai International and Austrian Airlines. Jet has rapidly become
the one to beat with service on par with the best anywhere in the
world and it has moved out of the small airlines league becoming a major international player with a superlative first, business and economy class product.
The airline is now resolutely international with flights to London, Kathmandu, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Colombo, Kuwait, Muscat, Doha and Singapore. A Mumbai-New York run via Brussels commenced 5 August 2007. This was followed in September with a Delhi-Brussels-Toronto service. By December 2007 Jet even had a daily service from Chennai to New York and Toronto via Brussels. And in January 2008 Jet Airways flights were running from Kochi (Kerala) in South India to Kuwait as well as Muscat, with Delhi-Kuwait and Mumbai-Bahrain and Mumbai-Doha online too. The Jet Airways Mumbai-Hong Kong service launched with considerable fanfare 14 April 2008 using a 220-seat A330-200 (given the water canon salute treatment on arrival) and New Delhi to Hong Kong follows. New B737-800s on select trunk routes offer a 3-3 seat configuration with JetScreen - a delightful touchscreen video on demand set-up for all passengers on business and economy. The airline has also placed orders for B777-300ERs and 10 cutting edge B-787 Dreamliners from Boeing. Meanwhile India's airline consolidation continues with Jet buying former rival Air Sahara (www.airsahara.net)
that carries the tagline, “Emotionally Yours”. So what
if the ladies at the check-in desk weep every time they greet you?
This is Bollywood Country.
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| Oasis Hongkong: in liquidation |
India's southern Bangalore-based no-frills Air Deccan (now allied with shareholder Kingfisher) has rolled out some incredible Internet fares. With the taxes added it still works out to a bargain with some sectors as low as US$15 or so. Flights are extensive with connections to Delhi, Mumbai, Chenai and most places you may be adventurous enough to visit. Catch is you'll need to book 90 days in advance. Seats whizz off fast.
Says managing director Captain GR Gopinath, "Every Indian can fly and should fly." The airline operates daily services to over 55 Indian destinations including spots like Port Blair (Andamans), Cochin, Goa, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Dehradun, Srinagar and Guwahati. www.airdeccan.net Other Indian contenders include the well regarded SpiceJet and Alliance Air.
Other small players
have followed. And these aren ’t your-daddy-was-a-sailor
unknowns. Air-India has launched its low-cost budget airline Air India Express (http://www.airindiaexpress.in) and has announced a large Boeing aircraft acquisition. Air India Express B737-800s fly Middle East and Southeast Asian routes connecting cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Kochi and Trivandrum with Singapore, Dubai, Doha, Sharjah, Muscat and Abu Dhabi.
Up in the Himalayas, Druk Air (www.drukair.com.bt)
weaves its tiny BAe-146s adroitly through the twisting valleys to
touch down whisper-smooth at Bhutan’s Paro airport ensuring
your martini is neither shaken nor stirred. The inflight meals are
excellent. If you’re flying in from New Delhi, ask for rows
11-14 (seat A) on the left side for stunning views of Everest, Kanchenjunga
and Jhomolhari. In case you missed out on a window seat, try a mountain
flight. Business or economy, the view’s the same.
The most spunky contender on the Asian stage has been the Malaysia-based AirAsia (www.airasia.com)
under the helm of the irrepressible CEO Tony Fernandes. This pioneering Asian low cost airline certainly means business. The 1 February, 2008 launch of services, albeit limited, between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore at rates as astonishingly low as S$13.99 marked a huge breakthrough on a monopoly route known for usuriously high fares. In April 2008 Kuala Lumpur to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam came on line followed by an offering of the cheapest tickets, budget airline or not, on the Kuala Lumpur to Hong Kong route. Next in line is KL-Haikou. And Kuching is being developed as a regional long-haul low-cost hub. AirAsia has come a long way. In July 2004 a Bangkok-Macau run commenced with an introductory fare of just Bt999 (under US$25). From Hongkong's Central business district it takes about an hour to Macau by hovercraft. The journey by bus or car to the Hong Kong International Airport takes around 40 minutes.
Groaning under huge accumulated losses, budget business carrier Oasis shut down and applied for liquidation on 9 April, 2008
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| Jetstar Asia: Quality budget option |
In February 2004, Bangkok-Chiang Mai launched at
a remarkable Bt99, cheaper than a one-day train pass in the Thai
capital or a beer in Patpong. Later the same month in yet another
coup, a Bangkok-Singapore service made its debut at Bt1,300 (one
way). In Singapore dollar terms this was about the equivalent of
a taxi fare to the airport and back in a Mercedes. Now for people on the move, a mobile phone site for info and bookings accessible through PDAs and handhelds, at http://mobile.airasia.com. AirAsia also plans to make available by early 2009 “OnAir” mobile services that will permit passengers to use their cell phones and BlackBerrys in-flight. This will include the ability to call, text and send and receive e-mails.
AirAsia’s
KL-Bangkok fare is about four times cheaper than that offered by Malaysia Airlines. Added are flights from Kuala Lumpur and Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, to Clark Angeles Airport (renamed Diosdado Macapagal International Airport) in the Philippines, providing access to Manila. And with the launch of flights to Hanoi, Xiamen, Chiang Mai, and Phnom Penh, AirAsia's hold is almost complete. A former music industry professional who picked most of his young
staff from the same business, Fernandes is enjoying watching the
big boys face the music as he dashes off an arpeggio of routes criss-crossing
Asia. His B-737 fleet is, like the proverbial teenager, two going
on 30 (aircraft) and in its sights now, is the significant prize
of Indonesia. Direct daily services connect Kuala Lumpur with Jakarta.
Cocking a snook
at his mega-this-that-and-the-other rival across the strait, Fernandes
earlier sprang a cheeky advertising campaign. “There's a new girl
in town,” it trilled. “She’s twice the fun and
half the price.” The similarities with Virgin, in style, philosophy
and image, are remarkable. The airline sports a red-and-white logo
and livery similar to Virgin’s. AirAsia plays an agile David
to the established national carriers’ creaking Goliath with
aplomb. Now AirAsia is rolling out spin-off programmes like GoCar (rental), GoHostel (budget bookings) and GoHoliday. Says Fernandes, "Singapore Airlines called us 'weeds'. Now they have their own weeds." It’s no surprise then that Virgin and AirAsia are
exploring ways to work together. Virgin Blue (www.virginblue.com.au)
is already well settled in Oz along with sister carrier Pacific
Blue (www.flypacificblue.com)
in New Zealand. Pacific Blue, which also offers two direct weekly flights between Tonga and Sydney, launched two new routes, from Auckland to Tonga and Rarotonga, in October/November 2005. Virgin has meanwhile secured approval for and announced its decision to launch V Australia late 2008 connecting the east coast of Australia to the US West Coast. V Australia plans to use new B777-300ERs on this groundbreaking transpacific route.
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| Nok Air/ photo: airline |
Virgin Blue offers
a radical departure from normal airline lounges with its snazzy
“Blue Rooms” that offer hi-tech spaces, fitness facilities,
a cinema, a SONY Playstation gaming area and café dining
for discriminating palates. Pay as you go. A corporate “Blue
Room Annual Passport” is priced at A$195.
Brand-new Polynesian Blue is a joint venture by Virgin Blue and the government of Samoa. The airline offers direct flights to Samoa (Apia) from New Zealand (Auckland) and Australia (Sydney). Flights are operated by Pacific Blue Airlines. The service kicked off with four weekly flights between Apia and Auckland, and three Apia-Sydney weekly flights. www.polynesianblue.com, www.virginblue.com.au or www.flypacificblue.com
Malaysia continues to churn up low-cost budget airlines, the latest, FireFly (www.fireflyz.com.my) from Malaysia Airlines. Based in Penang, it launched in April 2007 with 50-seat Fokkers serving Kota Bahru, Kuala Terengganu, Kuantan, Langkawi, Phuket and Koh Samui. It joins AirAsia and Berjaya Air (www.berjaya-air.com). Small airline Berjaya Air has been around for a while operating from Kuala Lumpur’s Subang airport. It operates domestic routes from Kuala Lumpur to Tioman, Pangkor and Redang as well as regional services Redang to Singapore (Seletar Airport) and Kuala Lumpur to Koh Samui, Thailand. Its 48-seater Dash-7 is a specialty short take-off and landing aircraft. The airline’s Singapore-Redang run has shortened an 11-hour excursion overland to just 90 minutes. There is a Singapore-Tioman service as well.
At the other side of the spectrum, newly launched small luxury airline Ozjet (www.ozjet.com.au) is offering corporate highfliers a "business class only" service, with eight daily flights between Sydney and Melbourne. The airline says while all 60 seats on its Boeing 737 aircraft are business class, fares are at "traditional Australian fully-flexible economy prices". Starting fares range from A$305 to A$325, one-way.
As the battle in Thailand hots up, state-controlled behemoth Thai
Airways International (www.thaiairways.com)
has slashed fares by large margins on key domestic and international
routes.
THAI’s thinly veiled counter-attack against budget carriers
now nipping freely at its heels has yielded an instant bonanza for
travellers. Persons availing of these “quota” fares
are issued e-tickets. And in its armoury now, is low-cost no-frills Nok Air (www.nokair.com) serving domestic destinations like Phuket, Chiang Mai and Udon Thai.
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| One-Two-GO from Orient Thai |
On 31 May, 2007, Nok Air launched its ground-breaking Bangkok-Bangalore flight, a late-night red-eye. What makes this service to India unique is the airline's intention to reinvent itself as the world's first "shopper's airline". Partnering with The Mall Group who run Bangkok shopping mecca's like Siam Paragon and Emporium, Nok Air offers its passengers from Bangalore discounts of up to 50 percent on certain brands in Bangkok. The Bangalore run is daily, utilizing a B737-400. Are the cabin bins large enough to accommodate all this frenzied shopping? We'll find out.
Orient
Thai (www.orient-thai.com)
took off in 1990, with CEO Udom Tantiprasongchai setting up Cambodia
International Airlines (CIA). Were these the people who misled Bush
into invading Iraq? Despite the racy acronym, the cocktail of Khmer
Rouge and the Vietnamese military proved unattractive for business
travel and the airline, sensibly, pulled out to focus its efforts
on the lucrative Bangkok-Hongkong and Bangkok-Seoul routes.
On 3 December 2003, Orient Thai launched the budget low-cost One-Two-GO (www.fly12go.com) with an innovative one-fare structure for all routes. One-Two-GO however serves snacks and free soft drinks onboard. The airline flies from Bangkok to Phuket, Surat Thani, Hat Yai, Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai with international routes including Hong Kong and Incheon (Seoul). It also offers holidaymakers an Incheon-Phuket service. One-Two-GO has grown steadily though a 16 September 2007 MD-82 crash in Phuket in bad weather may dampen plans in the short term.
The arrival of AirAsia in Hong Kong is good news for travellers nursing bruised wallets in a city known for steep prices
Other would-be and just-about-there Thailand
contenders include Air Andaman (closed in 2004), Phuket Air (www.phuketairlines.com) that has a stormy history and is currently mothballed while the shareholders plan a relaunch, and PB Air (www.pbair.com).
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| Colourful Bangkok Airways/ photo: airline |
The briskly run, though not low-cost, Bangkok Airways (www.bangkokair.com)
operates its own quaint, laid-back Thatch-roof airports in
Koh Samui and Trat. Bangkok Airways began as Sahakol Air in 1968,
an air-taxi company during the Vietnam War. It has added considerable
muscle in Indochina with the launch of a heritage circuit covering
key holiday destinations in Cambodia, Laos and China though its
broader network covers places as far afield as Xian and Guilin (China)
and Singapore (from Koh Samui). The airline describes itself as
a "boutique" service and is a class act. The route map
has grown to include the Maldives, and a ground-breaking Hongkong-Koh
Samui (Thailand) route that commenced in April 2005. Says Peter
Wiesner, Bangkok Airways' Vice President - Marketing, "Our
focus is on secondary leisure destinations." An ex-Swissair
veteran, Wiesner believes it's the little things that count. In
an era of no-frills, Bangkok Airways is looking at the small extras
that make a big difference. Like food and its presentation. "Food",
says Wiesner, "must look good and taste good. People eat with
their eyes and with their mouths. Colour is important. Imagine eating
fish in white sauce on white rice." Next on the agenda is e-tickets
and a stronger online presence. Bangkok Airways has weighed in with the big boys now and is not a budget airline, its Bangkok-Samui monopoly often criticised for high fares.
As well being a charter service, Siam General Aviation Co or SGA Airlines (www.sga.co.th) operates a couple of feeder and shuttle routes in Thailand – two up north from its Chiang Mai hub to Chiang Rai and Pai, and one south, between Bangkok and Hua Hin. The airline does not itself connect Bangkok and Chiang Mai. This is a new niche carrier that stays with short, low altitude journeys operated on 12-seat Cessna 208B Grand Caravans. These are prop planes minus inflight service, but the cabins, at 340 cubic feet, are fairly big and the seats modern and comfy. SGA operates from the domestic Don Muang terminal in Bangkok and not Suvarnabhumi.
Launched in January
2001, Phuket Air (www.phuketairlines.com) had a brief moment of glory before operating costs and tightening controls forced a more pragmatic appraisal. Phuket Air flew Thailand domestic from Bangkok to Ranong, and Yangon (Myanmar). The airline has been closed and mothballed while shareholders plan an eventual relaunch and perhaps a fresh name.
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| AirAsia: Like a Virgin: |
Owned by Boonrawd Brewery,
best known for its Thailand staple, Singha Beer, PB Air (http://pbair.com) is steered
by flamboyant Thai Airways veteran, Captain Jothin Pamon-Montri
who was also at the helm of once snappy, now practically defunct, Angel
Airlines.
PB Air serves Danang in Vietnam and Haikou in China as well as several domestic Thai routes like Nan in the far north and Trang, south of Krabi. Budget Thai Sky Airlines (www.thaiskyairlines.com) flew briefly from Bangkok to Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur and is currently out of operation.
Singapore
Airlines (www.singaporeair.com)
fired around 600 staff in 2003 to fight SARS, war, George Bush
jokes and a general travel slump. Along with its regional sibling SilkAir (www.silkair.com)
it will potentially lose revenues to Singapore-based ValuAir and
the Indonesian Lion Air (www.lionair.co.id)
which offers Singapore-Jakarta runs at almost 60 percent below the
SIA price. No-frills ValuAir (www.valuair.com.sg) flies to Hongkong offering passengers not lavish service and meals on its A-320s but something revolutionary - rock-bottom prices and singing stewardesses casually clad in sneakers and khaki slacks. That's right. On landing, stewardesses burst into song, on the cabin microphone. Some of them can actually sing. To avoid being crammed in with groups, ask to be seated in a forward row. The ValuAir prides itself on honesty in an Internet market riddled with dodgy fares and restrictions. "What you see is what you get", it stoutly maintains.
Low-cost Jetstar Asia (www.jetstarasia.com) links Hong Kong and Singapore with a daily roundtrip service. The flight launched in December 2004. This was followed by services from Taipei to Pattaya and Singapore, with Shanghai, Jakarta, Surabaya and Manila following in 2005. From March 2007, Jetstar Asia also has daily flights between Singapore and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh is also served by flights from Australia. Other destinations include Cairns, Bali, Taipei and Siem Reap. Jetstar is a partnership between Qantas and Singapore groups. By the fourth quarter of 2005, Jetstar Asia was offering hard-to-beat HK$428 one-way flights from Hong Kong to Singapore (excluding taxes, fees and insurance).
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| SGA flies to smaller Thai destinations |
The airline was also offering four flights a week from Singapore to Myanmar, at S$338 return. Jetstar Asia and Valueair have now merged into a single Singapore-based entity with Qantas (who owns a large chunk of Jetstar Asia) providing the capital injection. Both airlines will maintain their brand identity. Jetstar Asia flies comfortable Airbus A320-200 aircraft on which there is allocated seating and no boarding scrum for the best views. Select your seat online. In Singapore, if you do not wish to make payments online, just pop into one of the over 300 7-Eleven convenience stores dotted around the city and pay at the counter. It's as easy as that. And in February 2008 Jetstar launches a revolutionary low-fare flight Singapore to Kuala Lumpur. Beat that.
SIA has fought
back with its own low-cost carrier, Tiger Airways (www.tigerairways.com), a move that has
sparked heated debate – not over viability, but its name.
One irate gentleman told the press, “The tiger is very ferocious…
It [the name] should be more caring and friendly”. Hmm, well…perhaps
Telly Tubby Airways then.
There is another potential snag. Tiger Airways
(www.tigerairways.co.uk)
is already operating vintage biplane flights over the UK’s
West Midlands. Undeterred, Tiger already flies to five cities in Thailand (Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Hat Yai, Krabi and Phuket), Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi in Vietnam, Padang in Indonesia, Manila (Clark) and Macau. It is also launched four new weekly flights between Singapore and Darwin, Australia, in November, 2005. In the works is a new no-frills low cost airline to tackle the exorbitantly priced Singapore-Kuala Lumpur shuttle.
Kudos for being
perhaps the smallest airline in Asia, or in the world, is Myanmar
Airways International (www.maiair.com),
with one spry but hard-worked B-737, and occasional MD-82, with
very pleasant crew shuttling between Yangon, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur
and Singapore. Hongkong features off and on. The airline was set
up by Singapore-based Regionair.
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| Viva Macau takes to the skies |
Manila-based Cebu Pacific (www.cebupacificair.com)
was one of the original low-cost trend-setters, flying DC-9s. Its clarion call
has been taken up by Vietnam-based Pacific Airlines (www.pacificairlines.com.vn), using Boeing B737-400s. The airline offers ten to 50 percent discounts for students, people on social welfare, the elderly and passengers buying tickets seven to 30 days in advance. There are also free tickets for frequent flyers - get one free round-trip ticket for every seven round trips taken within one year, or a free one-way ticket for every 10 round trips. Within The Philippines, two other sprightly operators of note are Southeast Asian Airlines, or SEAir (www.flyseair.com)
and Asian Spirit (www.asianspirit.com).
These two have opened up several of the archipelago’s remoter
islands and resort areas. Key points include El Nido and Puerto
Princesa (in Palawan), Busuanga, Boracay, Cebu and Zamboanga and Camiguin. Pacific Air, which used to weigh guests
along with their baggage, as its small prop-planes huffed across
the Pacific to Boracay was an early pioneer that has been overtaken
by events.
South Korea's Jeju Air (www.jejuair.net) flies turboprop aircraft from Seoul's Gimpo Airport to Busan's Gimhae and Jeju Island (also Cheju Island). The airline operates with a few 74-seat Bombardier Q400 aircraft.
On 1 February 2008 Jetstar Asia and AirAsia launched revolutionary and long awaited Singapore-Kuala Lumpur low-cost flights
In Hongkong, CR Airways (www.crairways.com) launched in 2001 to provide an alternative for small city getaways. Their key destinations are Laoag in The Philippines, Subic Bay and Clark (near Manila), and Guilin, Sanya, and Haikou in China. CR Airways uses 50-seater CRJ-200 jet aircraft and offers ancilliary business charters and helicopter services.
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| Asian Spirit Dash-7 |
Rapidly expanding Hongkong Airlines (www.hkairlines.com) received its sixth brand-new Boeing 737 aircraft at the end of March 2007. The Hong Kong-based airline operates more than 20 routes, including to Guilin, Kunming, Haikou, Xiamen, Tianjin, Fuzhou, Qingdao and Jinan in China, and commences six flights a week to Hanoi, Vietnam, on 25 April 2007. The airlines also already flies to Yangon in Myanmar, three destinations in South Korea, Siem Reap in Cambodia, Phuket, and Clark airbase in the Philippines, while there are plans for Singapore, Japan, Ho Chi Minh City and Bangkok routes (from Hongkong) in future.
Hongkong carrier Hong Kong Express (www.hongkongexpress.com) launched services to Guangzhou and Hangzhou in China in 2005, followed by Oasis Hongkong being given permission to offer discount flights from Hong Kong to London, Cologne, Berlin, Milan, Oakland and Chicago in December 2005. By Chinese New Year first quarter 2007 Oasis (www.oasishongkong.com) was retailing Hong Kong-London Gatwick one-way fares at just HK$1,290. The airline offered a 32-inch seat pitch in its longhaul B-747s and hot meals as well as inflight entertainment with 14 video channels and music too. For a low cost flight to London on business class or economy, this was a worthy low-cost alternative. Oasis launched its HK-Vancouver route mid 2007 and was keenly exploring Paris and San Francisco when mounting debts forced the company to announce closure on 9 April, 2008. Hong Kong-based Oasis has filed for liquidation.
VIVA Macau (www.flyvivamacau.com) is also rolling out a number of low cost services from Macau to the Pearl River Delta region. It received its Air Operator's Certificate from the Civil Aviation Authority of Macau in late November 2006. VIVA's current wide-body aircraft, a Boeing 767-200ER and a Boeing 767-300, are capable of 12-hour flights to bring Australia, the Middle East and Europe well within the airline's range. Starting 21 December 2006 VIVA launched a twice-weekly service (Thursdays and Sundays) to the Maldives priced at an incredible inaugural rate of just 888 Macau patacas one way (about HK$888, or a little over US$113). Other fares in the region may go for as little as HK$88. Also on VIVA's route net are Phuket and Jakarta. Macau-Pusan was added in July 2007 with an introductory fare of just 888 Macau patacas one way.
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| Hongkong Airlines |
Indonesia's PT AWAIR (www.awairlines.com) connects places like Bali, Surabaya, Jakarta and Medan. It also flies to Kuala Lumpur. Adam Air Indonesia (www.flyadamair.com), a higher end low cost airline flying from Jakarta to a number of Indonesian destinations like Bali, Batam, Ujung Pandang, Balikpapan, Surabaya, Jogjakarta and Medan (as well as Singapore), has said it is considering closing operations. TransNusa Air Services (http://www.transnusa.co.id) is the newest player among Indonesia's small airlines, with 46-seat jets servicing routes between Bali and Nusa Tenggara. Clearly tailored to locals, its website is still missing an English version.
GMG Airlines (www.gmgairlines.com) from Bangladesh offers routes from Dhaka to Kolkata and Delhi (India), Kathmandu, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur. The end result? More bums in cheaper seats. As Fernandes
loves to quip, “Now everyone can fly.”
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