New battle in the sky
THIS week, Norwegian, the sixth-largest lowcost carrier in the world, landed in Changi Airport from London’s Gatwick Airport. Its introductory one-way fare was a mere £149.
This is about the price AirAsia had offered some years ago when it was plying the KL-London route. It was discontinued due to rising costs.
Changi is Norwegian’s second Asian stop after Bangkok, which it flies to from Oslo. Founded in 1993, Norwegian is majority-owned by Bjorn Kjos, a Norwegian aviator, lawyer and business magnate.
The airline has over 150 aircraft and has been adding long-haul routes across the Atlantic and now into Asia. It plans to fly into Argentina next summer.
The arrival of Norwegian surely signals a new fight in the skies between the low-cost carriers and premium carriers. If Norwegian can maintain its lower fares, it will be an attraction for the fast-growing middle
class flying community in Asia. Changi is a transit hub for Asia and there are enough connections for transit traffic for Norwegian to capture from Asia.
Even Malaysia Airlines will be feeling the heat from this new competition. There will be travellers who would turn to Norwegian for connectivity into London and Europe. Perhaps, the national carrier might need to review its airfares for its only long-haul route to London.
AirAsia will also be affected, as it has plans to return to London and that route now faces a new competitor in the form of Norwegian.
The flight from Gatwick to Changi is the world’s longest long-haul route for a lowcost carrier (its planes carry over 300 passengers for the over 12-hour journey). Norwegian achieves this by using more fuel-efficient jet aircraft.
The airline uses the B787-900 Dreamliner aircraft, which incidentally was ordered by Malaysia Airlines recently.
Long-haul will increasingly become a preferred choice in the next few years, as people prefer to fly direct instead of transiting.
For some time, the Middle Eastern carriers dominated these routes with attractive fares, but with transit stops in the Middle East. Travelling patterns, though, are changing. Even Qantas is planning to fly direct from Perth to London. It also wants to do away with its Dubai stop for its London flights.
So, low-cost long-haul, if executed well, is a sure winner.