Low Cost Airlines
When Malaysian businessman Tony Fernandes launched a no-frills, low-cost airline in 2002 with only two planes, few people realised the effect it would have. From only four routes, Air Asia set off a low-fare revolution that changed the face of the airline industry in the region. It is a stunning success story and now has 35 aircraft and flies millions of passengers across south-east Asia every year.
If you want to book a ticket with a low-cost carrier, the first trick is to find out which airlines serve your intended route. With lower advertising budgets than traditional airlines, this is often quite difficult. For your convenience we have listed the major budget carriers serving the two prime destinations - Singapore, Thailand.
Singapore:
The major budget carriers operating to and from this island state are JetStar Asia and Tiger Airways. JetStar Asia covers most major destinations in south-east asia, as well as Bangalore and Kolkata in India.
Tiger Airways covers Bangkok and Phuket in Thailand, Macau, and Padang in Indonesia. It is the only budget carrier direct to Vietnam from Singapore and the only budget choice to Australia, flying from Singapore to Darwin).
Thailand:
The three main operators in Thailand are Thai Air Asia, Nok Air and One-Two-Go. Thai AirAsia was launched in January 2004. Based primarily in Bangkok, the airline serves Thailand's major domestic destinations, as well as Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Kota Kinabalu), Singapore, Macau, Xiamen and Hanoi.
Nok Air, a subsidiary of Thai Airways International, flies from Bangkok to domestic destinations such as Phuket, Chiang Mai, Hat Yai and Udon Thani. One-Two-Go covers the major domestic routes within Thailand with fixed-price tickets.
As the number of people flying has increased, so has the demand for hotel accommodation and other products. Both Thailand and Singapore hotels are experiencing boom times as more people can afford to visit.
