The low cost airline market shifted a few significant notches in the past year, with our part of the world emerging at the forefront of the on-going revolution in budget travel. The global low-cost carrier (LCC) market is predicted to increase its value to almost $US 1 trillion by 2032, and in the past year, the Asia Pacific region dominated the market, worth an estimated $US145.7 billion. In the post-pandemic world, there has been increased demand for low cost airfares in response to the high costs of the full service carriers. In the battle for a slice of this volatile market between Jetstar, AirAsia, Bonza, Scoot, VietJet and Cebu Pacific, Aussie travellers stand to emerge as the winners. The coming 12 months will see some big moves as new routes are opened, others expanded, cabins changed, seating options increased and baggage rules extended. “As a sector, I think we’re getting better at telling people what a low cost carrier can offer,” AirAsia X CEO Benyamin Ismail says. “Once it was all about getting the price right, but we’re listening to what passengers have to say, and now it’s about the touch points that make us stand out.” So here are the airlines challenging full service carriers in Australia. Words by John Burfitt.
Australians are keen to get onboard with this new low cost domestic airline. The new local player in Aussie skies, Bonza will from November fly to 11 new destinations from the Gold Coast, including Melbourne Tullamarine, Albury and Cairns, and in December to Mt Isa, and from the Sunshine Coast to Darwin. In December, the new Gold Coast and Darwin and Melbourne to Alice Springs routes will open, increasing Bonza’s map to 35 destinations. flybonza.com
Named the World’s Best Low-Cost Airline in 2023, AirAsia also leads the sector with the longest list of innovations it plans to roll out over the coming 12 months. The Malaysian carrier is looking to expand its current Aussie schedule to possibly include flights from Kuala Lumpur to Adelaide, Canberra, Newcastle and the Sunshine Coast, and again to Geelong. Due to the success of the Sydney – Auckland route, AirAsia is also planning to connect the Gold Coast and Melbourne to Auckland. Internationally, AirAsia will expand into central Asia with flights from KL to Almaty in Kazakhstan by the end of the year, and to Europe with flights from KL to Istanbul, Turkey in mid-2024. Also on the agenda are connections from Bangkok into Prague and London on Thai AirAsia X.On board, AirAsia will up its carry-on baggage limit to 14kg, and on some routes, the number of Premium Flatbeds recently more than doubled to 30 seats due to customer demand.The Quiet Zone is also under review, for the dedicated cabin to offer more of a premium service, as a midway between economy and premium sections.“We’ve seen a changing attitude in the traveller in low cost travel,” Mr Ismail says. “With increasing competition in our sector, travellers want affordable travel but they also want more options with it.” airasia.com
The newest international LCC player in Aussie skies, Vietnam’s VietJet will launch new routes from Ho Chi Minh City to Perth in November, and in December will up its current service to Sydney and Melbourne to daily flights and to Brisbane with three weekly flights. Within Asia, the airline has just increased the Hanoi to Bangkok service to three trips a day. vietjetair.com
The coming five months will see Jetstar open four new international routes – Brisbane to Tokyo in October, Melbourne to Fiji in December, and in February, Brisbane to Seoul and Brisbane to Osaka. Also in February, the airline will increase the Brisbane and Bali service to 10 flights weekly and Sydney to Seoul to four times weekly. On Jetstar Asia, flights will operate daily between Osaka and Manilla, and three times weekly between Singapore and Okinawa, and Tokyo and Asahikawa. Much of this expansion has become possible with the introduction of the A321neo LR aircraft. There are currently nine in the Jetstar fleet, which will expand to 21 by middle 2024 – opening up the possibility of even more mid and long-range destinations. jetstar.com
While Scoot scrapped its Singapore to Gold Coast route mid-year, it recently increased the Perth to Singapore service to 12 flights per week. From October, Scoot’s European schedule will undergo a shake-up, with direct flights between Singapore and Berlin scrapped, with the German capital instead becoming a second stop on the Singapore to Athens route. The direct Berlin service will return in March 2024. flyscoot.com
The Philippines’ airline, which flies from Manilla into Sydney and Melbourne, will from December link Manilla to the booming Vietnamese holiday destination Da Nang with a three-times-a week service. This story originally appeared on escape.com.au. It has been reproduced here with permission. cebupacificair.com
