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.