Anybody have heard "budget airlines"? some people called it "low cost carrier". Yes you may heard of it or even frequently travel with those airlines. Does it really cheap? how do they make money with such lower price?
We know running an airlines industry is very expensive business. First of foremost, of course you have to get the airplanes (Boeing / Airbus). Hiring qualified pilots is second major cost. Next on the list will be fuel cost, maintenance cost, flight systems, and so on.
So if this all operating expenses, how the budget airlines can sell the price lower? the answer is "cutting airline cost". How is that possible? One major way to cut cost is to save money on the fuel cost by fuel hedging. It such a long contract with current price for a long term (months- a year). If the fuel price increase, the airline will still pay at contract price. On top of that, on very small things can help them to make up the revenue by charge separate baggage, food onboard, seat allocation, and many others. I'm not going to detail as the main purpose is to compare few budget airlines in Singapore.
Budget Airlines Table Comparison
| Airlines | AirAsia | JetStar | Tiger |
| 1-way fare | ok | ok | ok |
| Hand carry | 7kg | 10kg | 7kg |
| Luggage cost (1way) | $18/20kg | $17/20kg | $17/20kg |
| Departure taxes additional fees | $36 | $28 | $18 |
| Return taxes additional fees | $5 | NA | NA |
| Check-in fee | #$5ea | NA | NA |
| Seat allocation | $15 (Hot) $3 (standard) | $4, $13, $23 | $3, $5, $8, $10 |
| Payment option | Direct debit (free) Credit Card ($16/2way) | Offline Payment (free) Credit Card ($8) | Credit Card ($16/2way) |
#AirAsia has online check-in that is free (self check-in)
*Insurance, seat selection, luggage selection are mostly selected by the airlines. You may need to remove them to avoid extra charges.
Hope the table can help you to identify which airlines are charge you lesser than the other. The total price may always change time to time depends on promotion they have.
*the price presented may not 100% accurate but this is the best we can get as per 05/11/2011
