Low-cost long-haul

Detractors may yet be proved wrong

There are no arguments that budget flying is now part and parcel of Asia’s airline arena. Some 50 low-cost carriers (LCCs), a few of them now larger in terms of fleet and network than their veteran full-service counterparts, says it all. But the jury, according to many analysts, remains out on the subject of long-haul low-cost.

Detractors point to the failed Hong Kong Oasis and AirAsia X’s withdrawal from Europe as clear evidence that operating the no-frills model across vast distances is a hurdle too far.