Originally Posted by
Santander
With nearly all of the world's airlines that are worth mentioning flying to HKG, I think there's already enough competition. There's a plethora of LCCs flying to HKG and HX itself has pretty good fares compared to CX. Other carriers in the region like BR, CI and CA often have low fares out of HKG as well.
My concern about LCCs is that at least imo, LCCs lower the standard of commercial aviation in the entire country. Look at the "race to the bottom" which has been going on in the US for some time or the continual struggle of European airlines to compete with the likes of Ryanair. East Asia and the Gulf states are the last places where there is still "excellence" in the airline industry, and imo the burgeoning of LCCs in SE Asia is threatening the quality of product/service we currently enjoy; not so much on CX/SQ but very much so on the more "vulnerable" carriers in the region.
While I agree with you that LCC is a race to the bottom, there will always be a need for them to provide more competition in the market place.
Personally, I have always found HKG airfare to be non-competitive in pricing points compared with SIN because of the lack of LCC operating there. LCC also require the FS airlines to ensure they really differentiate themselves imo. I travel a mix between the two, especially when LCC fares add up to be more than FS airlines, which happens a lot more often than not.