AUSTRALIA was witnessing
an air travel revolution, an aviation expert said as the nation's
fourth domestic carrier took to the nation's skies for the first time
with fares as low as $19.95 from Melbourne to the Gold Coast.
Centre
for Asia Pacific Aviation chairman Peter Harbison said the first
flights on Friday by Singapore's Tiger Airways marked the beginning of
a brands war that would spread across the Asia-Pacific region.
"It is the beginning of a brand war that will envelop Asia-Pacific aviation in the next few years," Mr Harbison said.
"Neutral brands that can penetrate across borders, are at the cutting edge of aviation development in the region."
He said new operators would steadily diminish the presence of the national brands, or flag carriers.
"Both
will continue to have a future role to play, and profitably," he said.
"But the high growth rates of the next decade will come from the new
entrants and several strong brands.
"What we are seeing is nothing short of a revolution in the airline business in this region."
Tiger's first commercial flight
Tiger's
first fare-paying flight was from Melbourne to the Gold Coast with
follow-up services later in the day to Mackay and Rockhampton.
In
conjunction with yesterday's launch, Tiger offered promotional fares of
$19.95 for 75,000 seats to the Gold Coast, Hobart, Mackay, Rockhampton
and Newcastle.
But the carrier's battle to win a place in
Australian aviation heated up when it blamed Qantas for preventing it
from starting flights to Alice Springs from December 1 as planned.
The
budget carrier claimed Qantas would not provide any ground handling
services at Alice Springs Airport, at any price, despite Tiger offering
to rearrange its planned flight schedule.
by Geoff Easdown | News.com.au | SOURCE |
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22819834-421,00.html
