Competition heating up in the Asia regional travel market

We are seeing government monopoly airlines coming to terms with the potential of low cost airlines. What we must understand about low-cost airlines is that they offer:
1. Access to regional destinations – you no longer have to go to a sprawling city
2. They offer same price flights no matter which way you fly
3. They always seem to have seats available, so you can book on the go
These favourable criteria seem set to remain as competition heats up in the Asian market. Jetstar is planning to offer budget Asian links to the Gold Coast in competition with AirAsia X. "We won't rule out Boeing 787s planes being flown into the Gold Coast," said Jetstar spokesman Simon Westaway, referring to the aircraft the Qantas subsidiary is set to take delivery of from August 2008. "We think there are more Australian destinations that can support Jetstar International long-haul," Mr Westaway said. His comments have fuelled expectations the boom Australia's secondary airports have enjoyed from budget domestic travel over the past three years will soon translate into long-haul international traffic. AirAsia X also wants to provide customers with low-cost access to Australian regional airports since these carry lower fees. The more lucrative regional airports are the Hastings Fund Management-run Gold Coast Airport (close to Brisbane), Newcastle Airport (near Sydney) and the Lindsay Fox-owned Avalon airport (outside Melbourne). Newcastle Airport is being upgraded to handle the larger long-haul airliners. The Gold Coast Airport has spent $25 million upgrading its runway, and is spending another $100 million on its terminal. Improved international access to the Gold Coast makes particular sense given that 45% of Brisbane Airport users ended up on the Gold Coast.
The deregulation of Australian airports should prove a boon to regional travel – which should see a lot of cheaper holiday accommodation being offered to tourists. This true for the Asian-end of the equation. Consider the prospects for cheap holidays in places like Clark and Subic in the Philippines.