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Hong Kong Airlines Will Also Birth a Baby Budget Carrier in 2012

December 1, 2011 at 8:40 AM | by | Comments (0)

Asia seems to be the breeding ground for LCCs with announcements about Peach, Scoot, and Jetstar Japan. Last week the chief at Hong Kong Airlines announced that they'd be doing a regional subsidiary as well. Hong Kong Express will be re-branded and operate as a low-cost carrier to compete with the slew of budget airlines popping up all over the region.

The full transition will take place middle of 2012 and flights will serve mainland China, South Korea, Japan and southeast Asia. Airbus A320s will hit the skies, but what the livery will look like (or even the airline's name), we can't yet be sure.

While Hong Kong Express will attempt to compete with the likes of both new and established LCCs, it will be giving up some lucrative routes to its competitors, such as AirAsia and Jetstar. This opens up even more premium possibility for the region including Cathay Pacific, adamant from the beginning that they wouldn't be dabbling in a budget offshoot.

Another fun part of the Hong Kong Express plan is to recruit a European CEO that has a proven LCC track record, but no word on who will be shifting continents.

Finally, Hong Kong Airlines will distance itself from their new baby, creating an all-premium model between Hong Kong and London-Gatwick. The A330 service begins in March just in time for the Olympic Games.

With all of this talk about new LCCs, we're to see another livery and new cabins. We are just eager to find out what quirky name Hong Kong Airlines will finally choose for their new service.

[Photo: Flickr]

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