ValuAir to begin maiden flights next month to Bangkok, Jakarta, Hong Kong
ValuAir to begin maiden flights next month to Bangkok, Jakarta, Hong Kong
Agence-France-Presse, Singapore
The latest addition to Asia's low-budget airline industry, Singapore's ValuAir, will begin operations next month with flights to Hong Kong, Jakarta and Bangkok, the airline announced on Wednesday.
ValuAir executive director Jimmy Lau told a press conference the airline will begin flying twice daily to Bangkok from Singapore on May 5, once daily to Hong Kong on May 7 and once daily to Jakarta on May 10.
Promotional fares for the Bangkok and Jakarta return-trip services will cost S$138 Singapore (US$82) but the deal ends on May 21 and Lau would not say how much flights would cost after that.
The fares for the single-trip and Hong Kong services were also unavailable.
The budget carrier will also be offering a promotional women's only flight to Hong Kong on May 21 as part of its strategy to target the increasingly high-income female market, Lau said.
"They are a very discerning lot now, with high disposable income. You'll see that ValuAir will be branding ourselves with certain segments of the market -- we want to talk to women specifically," he said.
ValuAir also expects to operate flights that tie in with certain festivals and events around the region.
"We have international musicals and plays and festivals, so we'd like to tie in with the organizers to ensure that we bring overseas patrons into those events," Lau said.
ValuAir, which has two A-320 Airbuses, expects to add at least two more planes to its fleet by the end of the year.
It also hopes to expand its reach to other cities in the region, such as Guangzhou and Manila, Lau said.
"We are looking at main trunk (routes), cities that are up to five hours away from Singapore."
ValuAir, started by former Singapore Airlines managing director Lim Chin Beng, has beaten a host of rivals to become the first budget airline to base itself out of Singapore.
Malaysia's AirAsia, the regional market leader, has applied for a license to set up a base in the city-state. A Singapore Airlines-back consortium called Tiger Airways and an as-yet unnamed no-frills carrier involving Australia's Qantas airlines also intend to operate from Singapore.