For less than RM10, passengers can fly from here to Australia come early September when low-cost carriers AirAsia X and Jetstar begin their separate operations.
AirAsia X, the country’s first long-haul budget airline, is expected to start its first flight between here and an Australian east-coast city on Sept 8.
Insiders said the Malaysian airline is expected to start its promotional one-way fare at RM9.90.
A day later on Sept 9, Jetstar - the low-cost subsidiary of Qantas - will start its operations from here to Sydney.
For starters, Jetstar is offering fares from RM88 for one-way travel in September and February. This does not include taxes and surcharges, which come to a total of RM409.50.
The offer is valid till 10pm today and travellers can book online at www.jetstar.com or call 1800-813-090.
Jetstar’s one-way fare for October and November is RM488 excluding taxes and surcharges.
Jetstar will also offer 36 business-class seats, and the one-way fare for the route is RM1,488, excluding taxes.
“Our fares will be about 20% cheaper than those offered by full-service carriers,” Jetstar general manager for marketing David May told a press conference yesterday.
For comparison, the cheapest return economy fare on Malaysia Airlines is RM2,734.80.
FAX chief executive officer Azran Osman-Rani said, “On the average, our fare will be about 30% to 50% cheaper than the full service carrier.”
AirAisa X is likely to announce its first destination tomorrow, he said when asked about the announcement of Jetstar’s flight between here and Sydney.
The thrice-weekly Jetstar flights will operate out of KLIA on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday, departing Sydney at 12.15pm and KLIA at 8.15pm.
Though Jetstar is a low-cost carrier, May said they had opted for KLIA because the “price difference in landing and parking charges offered by the Malaysian authorities was too insignificant to the LCCT.”
Jetstar’s Australian operation is wholly owned by Qantas but is managed separately, and operates independently with its Australian headquarters in Melbourne.
Its intra-Asian operation is a Singapore-based partnership involving Qantas (49%), local businessmen Tony Chew (22%) and F.F. Wong (10%) and Temasek Holdings (19%), with the hub in Singapore. Besides operating a domestic service in Australia, Jetstar also flies to six international destinations – Bangkok, Phuket, Ho Chi Minh City, Denpasar, Nagoya and Osaka.
Flights from Sydney to KLIA are just the start of Jetstar’s journey into Malaysia.
Source : STAR
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