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Low-cost airlines to further cut airfares
23/2/2004 17:25

A growing number of Southeast Asian air-carriers established are offering economy air-tickets and are expected to slash prices on local tours to Southeast Asian destinations no later than the end of this year, the Shanghai Morning Post reported today.
In a bid to claim more of the Southeast Asian tourist market, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore have launched low-cost airlines.
Compared with normal flights, low-cost ones do not offer free snacks or coffee, but charge airfares as low as one-fifth of normal.
Singapore-based Tiger Airways, to kick off operation in the second half of the year, plans to expand its scheduled flights to other Southeast Asian countries. Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific Airways is busy preparing for its own low-cost airlines.
Malaysia-based Air Asia is attempting flights to the South of China.

The debuts of the low-cost airlines has dealt a heavy blow to main air-carriers, and is expected to affect pricing in the entire tourism market, said an employee with the Outbound Department of the Shanghai China International Travel Service Co Ltd.
Eagle United Airlines Co Ltd, the first low-cost airline on the Chinese mainland, plans to start operation within the year, with its airfares likely to be 20 percent lower than normal, said an industry analyst, adding that it will inject new life into the domestic aviation industry.
Many such air carriers are expected to debut in Asia in the coming five years, the analyst predicted.



 Wendy Zhang/ Shanghai Daily news