Low-cost carriers, better known as budget, discount, or no-frills airlines, are, as airline companies that offer fares that are much lower than mainstream carriers. About decade ago, most budget airlines exclusively fly domestic routes. Over the recent years, however, many low-cost carriers have started offering long-haul/international flights, making international travel more affordable for more people.

A Smorgasbord of Low Cost Carriers

What’s in this article?

Why low-cost carriers are low-cost.

Major budget airlines in SE Asia with international operations

Strategies and tactics for finding the lowest fares

1. How can a budget airlines offer cheap fares?

Low-cost carriers are able to offer dirt-cheap fares through several means. Let me enumerate the three that will matter to you, the passenger:

a. Single passenger class layout

Unlike legacy carriers (United Airlines, Philippine Airlines, Garuda, JAL) that have first class, business class, and economy, all seats in budget airlines are economy class, enabling them to fill seats much faster.

b. Ditching jetways

Whenever possible, low-cost airlines do not use jetways for boarding to cut down on costs. Instead, they require passengers to walk on the tarmac and climb up the air stairs or movable stairs.

c. Baggage Charges

Legacy carriers usually allow at least one 15-kg check-in and one 7-kg hand-carry baggage. Budget carriers, meanwhile, do not provide check-in baggage allowance by default.

d. Non-registration in flight search websites.

Forget about Expedia, SkyScanner, eDreams, Orbitz and Google Flight Search. Most budget carriers do not register their flights in these databases, and your best shot at finding a low-cost flight is going directly to their respective websites, which leads us to the next section…

2. Major ASEAN budget airlines that fly international routes

After explaining why low-cost airlines are low-cost, let me now give you a rundown of the notable international budget carriers servicing the Asia-Pacific Region:

a. Cebu Pacific Air (CebuPac)

Hands down, CebuPac is one of the lowest-cost low-cost carriers on the planet today. With one-way international all-in fares starting at USD 35, it’s the most affordable among all Southeast Asian carriers that I know. For example, nonstop non-CebuPac flights from Hong Kong to Taipei start at US$160 (via Hong Kong Airlines/EVA Air) , but CebuPac offers fares as low as US$70 – a whopping 56% difference. The catch, however, is that you’ll need to transit through Manila, so that the trip will last for 4 hours (2 hrs HKG-MNL + 2 hrs MNL-TPE) instead of just 2 hours (HKG-TPE direct). But US$90 is still US$90.

Hubs: Manila(Main Hub, NAIA T3), Clark, Cebu, Davao (all in the Philippines)

Destinations: Southeast Asia, East Asia, Australia, Middle East, Guam, and soon, Europe and the United States. So you may want to apply for a US Tourist visa right now.

Route Map:

Cebu Pacific Route Map

b. AirAsia

While the fares are usually not as cheap as CebuPac, AirAsia offers the most varied routes in Indochina (Insular ASEAN countries) and South Asia. AirAsia also offers the cheapest plane fares from Southeast Asia to Nepal, India, and Sri Lanka.

Hubs: Kuala Lumpur (Main Hub, KLIA T2), Kota Kinabalu, Penang, Kuching (all in Malaysia)

Destinations: Southeast Asia, East Asia, Australia, South Asia

Route Map:

AirAsia Route Map

c. Tiger Airways

Though cheaper than traditional carriers, the budget airline Tiger Airways, from my own recollection, is the most expensive of these three. However, Tiger Airways is important for two major reasons: it’s the only budget carrier that flies to China’s Hainan Island and it usually offers the lowest fares from anywhere in Southeast Asia to Singapore. I’ll explain more in the next section.

Hubs: Singapore (Changi)

Destinations: Southeast Asia, East Asia, Australia, South Asia

Route Map:

Tiger Airways Route Map

Strategies and tactics for finding the lowest fares

After discussing the major low-cost airlines and where they fly, it’s time to discuss several tactics that will let you cut down on costs wherever you want to go. To read more on that, check my next post.