One of the more interesting development in the UK since I moved to Hong Kong has been the growth of budget airlines such as Ryanair and EasyJet. It’s now possible to fly to many destinations in the UK, Ireland and the rest of Europe very cheaply – as long as you book early, don’t travel at a peak time, and don’t mind going to a small airport. For some, the latter is a definite advantage, and the availability of cheap flights to regional airports is supposed to have led to a boom in the property market nearby. Some Brits can afford to spend regular weekends in their holiday home by virtue of Easyjet or Ryanair.
It’s probably too much to expect this trend to spread to Asia. For one thing, most flights within Asia are longer than the typical Easyjet or Ryanair flight, and so the limited legroom and lack of inflight service would be more of an issue. Also, secondary airports are either non-existent or not so accessible, and anyone from Hong Kong who can afford a holiday home in Phuket can probably afford to pay for flights on Dragonair, so there is less opportunity to create new demand.
Nevertheless, we keep being told about so-called ‘budget’ carriers, the latest being ValuAir based in Singapore. A quick check against the European standard:
- Operate between secondary airports – No
- Variable fares that are significantly cheaper if you book in advance – No
- Booking over the Internet or on premium-rate phone lines
- No assigned seats (first-come, first-served) – No
- No in-flight service apart from drinks and snacks for sale – No
- No entertainment options
- Limited legroom – No
- Very short turnaround to maximise utilisation
In fact, ValuAir seems to be going for a totally different business model! They are planning to operate between Hong Kong and Singapore with fares that will be fixed, they will assign seats (with normal legroom) and offer some in-flight services.
On the principle that if it doesn’t sound like a budget airline, and doesn’t operate like a budget airline, it probably isn’t a budget airline, I predict that one of two things will happen – either they will go out of business or they will start charging fares that are similar to the full service airlines. Anyway, if you want a cheap flight on this route you can probably get a good deal from China Airlines (accident-free for, oh, several months) or even United Airlines (who have one flight a day).
What is different (and clever) about the business model used by airlines such as EasyJet and Ryanair is that (1) they can fill their planes with passengers who have paid different fares – book ahead and you get a bargain, book later and you don’t, and (2) they normally operate from secondary airports which are not well-served by full service airlines. They have also reset customer’s expectations, and created new markets (such as the weekend away in Europe or the midweek golfing trip). Is the same thing possible across Asia? Maybe, one day, but so far no-one has been brave enough to try.
More information on low-cost airlines in Asia here
Ordinary Gweilo 
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