Long and Low

Inside Asia Pacific’s big three long-haul LCCs

The long-haul, low-cost carrier has been an Australasian and Asia Pacific success story, as a region with exploding travel demand meets the needs of a widening range of passengers with new generations of aircraft – plus new takes on what an airline is, and how to run it.

The big three in the region are AirAsia X, Jetstar and Scoot, with Cebu Pacific and Lion Air also operating widebody aircraft. But new generations of efficient narrowbodies are set to enable a surge of new business models for medium-haul, low-cost carriers operating single-aisle flights of six to eight hours along the lines of flydubai with its 737 MAX and WOW Air with its A321neo aircraft.