Issue 373: Fire & Ice

There’s Fire And Ice In The Low-cost Jungle

Lions & Dragons

The Asia Pacific’s low-cost airline sector is dominating the region’s skies and aircraft manufacturers’ order books. But their phenomenal growth hasn’t come without turbulence and the next few years could be a test of survival for some.

It may have been the worst prognosis for the prospects of low-cost carriers in the Asia Pacific in the past two decades. Back in 2003, speaking at a conference in Singapore, Richard Stirland, a former Cathay Pacific Airways executive and at the time director general of the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines, which represents most of the region’s major full-service operators, declared he had no doubts: they didn’t have a future.