By Brendan John Worrell (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2008-01-14 15:39

Asia's aviation sector continues to develop though profits for airlines are not corresponding to cheaper flights for customers. In Europe today low cost carriers proliferate enabling passengers to fly from London to Amsterdam to Paris to Rome at very affordable prices. This is one likely scenario for the future of the Asian region flying from Beijing to Tokyo to Seoul to Singapore at comparatively affordable prices and it is an area where China has the potential to become an industry leader.

As for the present however, Asia's tech savvy citizens are entitled to a little impatient cyber rage when they realize the price differential between flying in Europe and Asia. Using the Internet farechaser site one can book a single adult return flight from London to Istanbul flying approximately 2500km at a cost of US$243. However booking a flight from Beijing to Tokyo on the same day, a shorter distance of 2103km, and the customer must pay US$700.

The emergence of low cost carriers such as Malaysia's Air Asia, Singapore's Tiger Air, Hong Kong's Dragon Air and India's Air Deccan and Spice Jet, bode well for the flying public and the wider economies at large – though worrisome for the already browning Asian skies and airport management trying to regulate congested terminals.

A closer look however at the emergence and strategy of low cost carriers shows that their success has been underpinned by a focus on regional routes that looks beyond the traditional major destination hubs. In many respects they supplement a nation's aviation industry rather than threatening established national carriers by actually offloading some of the congestion that may be occurring in built up hubs.

The UK's Stansted and Gatwick airports contribute in this respect easing some of the strain an overworked London Heathrow faces providing workable solutions for low cost carriers like Easy Jet and Ryanair while not destroying British Airways which concentrates on more long haul flights.

In an interview last year Yang Yuanyuan, the then Director of the Civil Aviation Administration of China spoke about boosting regional capacity around the country suggesting previously military run airports could be utilized to cater for low cost carriers.

For China, now capable of producing regional jets like the newly unveiled ARJ21 that has a seating capacity of 150 passengers and an ability to fly over 3000 kms, supported by world class training facilities and infrastructure in part co-created by Boeing and Airbus, the region appears to hold more opportunities than threats while at the same time offering a leadership vacuum that has yet to be filled.

Till then the overnight ferry from Osaka to Shanghai, Shimonseki to Pusan or Hainan to Vietnam remains the only affordable option for thousands of merchants trying to make their way to a better future.

And for Spring Festival holidaymakers, who should be able to afford a holiday to nearby Bali or Mumbai in the same way that Europeans fly during Christmas, they can only wait till the skies clear bringing them more affordable life options in reward for all their hard work they have done during the year.