Low Cost Airline

Better known as budget airlines or budget carriers, they are in hot news now…
I’m very sure you’ve known a lil’ bit about budget airlines. Our very own household
brand AirAsia is no longer a stranger to the world. They have recently been awarded
the Best Low Cost Airline Asia title by Skytrax. The awards list.

Budget airlines today have Southwest Airlines in the United States to thank for starting
the revolution.Then came Virgin Atlantic in US, Ryanair and easyJet in the Europe
years later and from then on, the revolution of budget airlines is extraordinary. A few
new budget airline has been emerging around Asia, sweeping the travel industry with surprises from time to time with their achievements.JetStar which will be flying Kuala Lumpur – Sydney route from 9th September is one
of Asia’s budget airlines making waves in the industry. Budget airlines, which follows
the the guideline of 3 hours+ flight is now abandoning it. Most budget airlines are going
towards the long haul flights plan, on a budget. Example, the AirAsiaX’s plan to fly
long haul from Kuala Lumpur to London, Sydney and Melbourne in time soon to come.

Another budget airline by the name of Viva Macau is making wave too. They are
flying to Sydney already. Why is every airline flying to Sydney? Maybe, our very own
Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) must learn how to attract these airlines in.
Hong Kong Express, as the name says it all, is a Hong Kong base budget airline.
This is also another Asian budget airline which is plying routes around China and its
nearby neighbours like Thailand.

With budget airlines sprouting worldwide like nobody’s business (see list here),
sometimes people would ask, is it better to travel in budget airlines or a full fledge airlines?

Now, let me just run through a few notable topics people would debate on this issue.

Cheap means good?
Every budget airlines claims to be the best or better than others. Typical Asian
mind would say “Cheap means no good!”. But then again, budget airlines has enabled
people around the world to travel without forking as much as they would for full
fledge airlines.

Budget airlines can offer a very cheap fare because of streamlined of overheads.
See how they go direct to consumers rather than going through 3rd Party?
They don’t offer meals and entertainment on board, they sell them to you!
They don’t give you air tickets, and make you print your own ticket online.
So that’s pretty much how they cut down cost and give you best fare per trip.

You would also ask how can AirAsia offer as cheap as 0.99 cents per trip? or
How can they offer a FREE SEAT to somewhere? How can they earn?
Simple. This is what we call, revenue management or some calls it pricing optimization.

For every 300+ seats in a Boeing 737-300 AirAsia uses, say about 50 seats is given
out for free, first come first serve basis. Once it is grab up, second tier of pricing kicks
in, say for RM 1.99 and another 20 seats for grabs. It goes higher per tier and they
do not lose anything. Higher tier fares can cover their overheads and earn profits.

Safe and Security
Security could be considered the top questions asked today. Again, Asian perception
comes in, “Cheap means no or very low maintenance”. Base on records, I can assure
you that budget airlines is serious about their safety and security.

Budget airlines is a new thing in travel industry. Being new, these budget airlines uses
mostly new airplanes. For the start, of course they lease the planes but then, look at
AirAsia, they are flying on Airbus now and going for all-Airbus fleet.

For the record, budget airlines from the start has not been on a bad disaster or crash.
It has always been a flawless record of safety for budget airlines.

When there are pros there are cons. Right? So here are the few cons for budget airlines.
- they fly to remote airport. Just like LCCT, look how much further in than KLIA.
- bad timings. Delay is a frequent word in their dictionary. Odd departure times.
- more restrictions. Your luggage overweight? PAY!
- free for all. Seats are not assigned. But airlines like Viva Macau assigns seats – FREE!
- no entertainment. Your approx 4 hours flight to Bali will bore you to deaths!
- you don’t get meals. Not like full fledge airlines, you have to pay for meals.
- less customer service. You talk to machine most of the time.

Just like many people say, “You pay peanuts, you get monkeys” but in better term
“You get services as for what you paid for”

Budget airlines has revolutionized traveling patterns and behaviour in world. Join in!

*pictures are all off Google Images*