Hong Kong Express Set To Take Off As Low Cost Carrier On 27 October 2013

Positioning itself as the first low-cost airline based in Hong Kong, Hong Kong Express is what you see is a great opportunity in the LCC (Low Cost Carrier) market in Hong Kong. airlines account for only five percent of the aviation market in Hong Kong, but they provide almost 20 percent of the seats in Asia in general.

For its launch, the highways of Hong Kong Express has eight regional destinations served by direct flights from Hong Kong. These are Tokyo (Nov. 7) and Osaka (November 21) in Japan, Taiwan Taichung, Kunming, China, Phuket and Chiang Mai in Thailand and Penang (November 14) and Kota Kinabalu (Sabah) Malaysia. The airline said more locations will be announced soon.


Initial Fleet Hong Kong Express consists of five Airbus A320 with 174 seats in a single class. As the road network increases, the carrier plans to operate a fleet of 30 A320 aircraft in 2018.


Before its transformation into an airline low cost, Hong Kong Express and its sister company Hong Kong Airlines has been operated by the same management team, both with the media is owned base HNA Hainan - the fourth Airline largest conglomerate in mainland China. Now they have the management and sales teams and independent marketing.


Executive Director of Hong Kong Express is Andrew Cowen, whose background was in LCC 1999 when he helped establish the low cost airline Go for British Airways. Since then, he has been involved in a number of low cost airlines ups, including Peach Aviation, and GoAir India Osaka.


Cowen said many LCC start-ups have failed because they had people involved who knew enough about the LCC. It was no secret that the operation of a low-cost airline properly, Cowen said, but there are certain rules that must be followed to achieve the best result.



The first rule is that the cabin crew to clean inside the plane instead of bringing in cleaners for each run. The second rule is that supplies of food and drink for the two legs of the route would be charged in Hong Kong, eliminating the need to load the overseas destination.



Shorten response times has been the key to play the low cost airline market, Cowen said, allowing the aircraft to make more flights per day and reduce the cost per seat.



Although Hong Kong Express is cleared for takeoff, another budget airline Jetstar Hong Kong expects to receive regulatory approval to start operations in Hong Kong this year. A joint venture between Qantas Airways, based in Shanghai, China Eastern and Shun Tak Holdings, Hong Kong Jetstar plans to go to points in Greater China, Japan, South Korea and Southeast Asia.



Meanwhile, the Thai government formally approved in October Air Operator Certificate (AOC) to Thai AirAsia X, a new long-haul carrier low cost airline based in Bangkok's second airport Don Mueang. This means that the airline is now expected to receive its AOC before the end of the year and forward the launch date of its first flight in 2013 instead of the first quarter of 2014.



Thai AirAsia X planning services to destinations including Japan, China, South Korea and Australia. This would compete directly with AirAsia national airline of Thailand, Thai Airways International, which recently established its subsidiary regional THAI Smile low cost to take part in Thai AirAsia.