Another low cost carrier plans to fly to Australia
Scott Rochfort in today’s Sydney Morning Herald says that Jestar is about to face its first challenge on the long-haul “low-cost” airline market between Asia and Australia, after the Chinese budget carrier Viva Macau confirmed plans to fly to Sydney by late July.
The airline, which is based in Macau, plans to launch three weekly services to Sydney once it takes delivery of its third Boeing 767 next month.
“The dates are not confirmed yet but definitely July,” a Viva Macau spokeswoman told the Herald.
Based on the ticket prices Viva already offers, it is expected the airline could easily undercut the fares offered by Jetstar into Asia.
On its website yesterday Viva was offering return flights from Macau to Jakarta for as low as $138 (including taxes) and the Maldives for $370. Last year the airline’s chief executive, Andrew Pyne, predicted Viva would undercut existing fares on the Sydney to Hong Kong route by at least 20 per cent.
Viva’s chief operating officer, Con Korfiatis, is understood to have visited Sydney last week to make the final arrangements for the airline’s arrival.
Mr Korfiatis is no stranger to Jetstar. The former Qantas executive was the first acting chief executive in the struggling 44.5 per cent Qantas-owned Singapore budget carrier Jetstar Asia.
Viva also plans to launch services to Seoul and Osaka within the next two months, before launching services into Europe by the end of the year. The airline, which commenced services last December, plans to expand its fleet to five 767s by the end of the year. Like Jetstar International, it has two classes and economy passengers have to pay for meals.
Aside from banking on the growing demand for travel to the booming gambling mecca of Macau, Viva also plans to exploit the oversupply of hotel rooms in the former Portuguese enclave.
The airline is looking to offer Australian passengers en route to Europe a cheap hotel room in transit. It is rumoured Viva is looking at European destinations such as Moscow and Milan.
Viva’s planned arrival comes after AirAsia announced plans to fly to Australia with its new long-haul budget carrier within the next year. But this could be delayed due to a lack of available aircraft.
The Hong Kong long-haul low-cost carrier Oasis is yet to indicate whether it plans to fly to Australia. The airline has so far singled out North America and Europe, but with plans to expand its fleet to 25 Boeing 747s by 2010 it could eventually include Australia in its growth plans.
Report by The Mole
John Alwyn-Jones
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