ASEAN cut fare for members

ASEAN cut fare for members

SINGAPORE: Countries that belong to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have introduced a new fare to encourage people to fly within the 10-nation group, a tourism association said Monday.

Aimed at travelers flying to more than one city, the fare is 99 U.S. dollars for each leg of a journey as long as passengers fly three to six legs, the ASEAN Tourism Association said.

Fliers can save, in some instances, as much as 50 per cent.

ASEAN consists of Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Brunei, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar (Burma).

"SARS and the Iraq war have shown that we have to move away from just promoting the region to travelers from the West and the non- ASEAN countries," Sebastian Lo, the association's executive director, told The Straits Times.

The 500 million people in ASEAN form a "good critical mass", he added. The "Hip-Hop Pass" is available until October 25. -- DPA