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Valuair  will become the first low-cost carrier to launch scheduled services to Hong Kong with  a daily service from Singapore's Changi airport next month.

The carrier, the first budget  airline licensed by Singapore's aviation authorities, will begin  its Hong Kong flights on May 7, two days after it launches twice-daily services between the Lion City and Bangkok for a promotional round-trip price of S$138 (HK$634).

Analysts say the seat prices for its Hong Kong service, to be announced next week, will probably be at least 30 per cent higher.

'We are committed to targeting high-density routes and our research indicted the Hong Kong market was the right model for us,' Valuair executive director Jimmy Lau  told the South China Morning Post. 'It has a very good mix of business and leisure travellers. It was important for us to get into the market quickly to capture that.'

Hong Kong's Civil Aviation Department said yesterday Valuair had yet to apply to the SAR for local operating rights but that the approval process would only take about 10 days, provided the documentation was in order.

The carrier will  begin  daily services from Singapore to Jakarta on May 10, also at the promotional price of S$138.

Valuair management describes its carrier as a 'some-frills' airline, as opposed to the no-frills products being marketed in Asia by other budget start-ups such as Tiger Airways, Indonesia's Lion Air, Thailand's Nok Air and Malaysia's AirAsia.

Valuair says it will offer amenities such as basic hot meals, 10 per cent more legroom than its budget rivals, leather seats and a 20kg baggage allowance, standard in the economy classes offered by premium carriers.

Now that a date has been set for the low-cost invasion of the Hong Kong-Singapore route - which at present offers 174 flights a week - pressure is bound to increase on the premium carriers competing in the sector, according to Tony Lau, aviation analyst for Kim Eng Securities.

About 287,000 passengers  flew between the two cities in the first two months of this year.

'The local airlines will face some yield pressure, it is inevitable,' Mr Lau said, who estimated that Singapore Airlines carried at least 70 per cent of   passengers between the two cities.

'But, in the long run, the low-cost carriers will create a bigger market.'



Valuair introduces budget flights to HK