Budget airline Jetstar Asia yesterday announced cut-rate fares to its initial destinations of Hong Kong, Thailand and Taiwan and said it was seeking rights to fly to India and additional routes to China.
Singapore-based Jetstar Asia Pte Ltd, which is backed by Australia's Qantas Airways Ltd, said a ticket to Hong Kong would start at a promotional S$48 each way (US$29) with service beginning Monday.
PHOTO: AFP
A one-way fare to the Thai beach resort of Pattaya would start at S$29 (US$17) beginning a week later, while service from Singapore to Taipei would start on Dec. 16, with the price of a one-way ticket starting at S$88 (US$53).
Jetstar's chief operating officer, Con Korfiatis, also said the airline would begin flying to Shanghai from January, but company officials were also eyeing other Chinese destinations south of the commercial center.
He said the carrier was hoping that Singapore's "very proactive" pursuit of trade deals with China and India would open up the possibility of new routes for Jetstar to those countries.
Korfiatis said the impending free trade deal between the city-state and New Delhi would likely result in new destinations such as Chennai and Mumbai "sooner rather than later" for the budget carrier.
Jetstar Asia is the third low-cost airline to be launched this year out of Singapore after Valuair and Tiger Airways -- backed by Singapore Airlines Ltd.
"We have said from the beginning that our success will depend on our ability to grow the market and by becoming the first low-cost carrier to serve several major population centers,'' Korfiatis said.
The low-cost carrier's four other confirmed destinations -- Shanghai, the Philippines capital of Manila, Surabaya and Jakarta in Indonesia -- would be offered from January.
Korfiatis said earlier Jetstar Asia would differentiate itself from its rivals, including the region's low-budget pioneer, Malaysia's Air Asia Bhd, by flying longer-haul routes.
Singapore's aviation authorities have embraced the growth of low-cost fliers and are building a passenger terminal at Changi Airport specifically for discount airlines. It is set to open in 2006.
Jetstar Asia is 49 percent held by Qantas, Australia's national carrier. Its other significant backers include Temasek Holdings Ltd, the Singapore government's main investment arm, which holds 19 percent.
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
The National Development Council (NDC) yesterday unveiled details of new regulations that ease restrictions on foreigners working or living in Taiwan, as part of a bid to attract skilled workers from abroad. The regulations, which could go into effect in the first quarter of next year, stem from amendments to the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及僱用法) passed by lawmakers on Aug. 29. Students categorized as “overseas compatriots” would be allowed to stay and work in Taiwan in the two years after their graduation without obtaining additional permits, doing away with the evaluation process that is currently required,
IMPORTANT BACKER: China seeks to expel US influence from the Indo-Pacific region and supplant Washington as the global leader, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said China is preparing for war to seize Taiwan, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said in Washington on Friday, warning that Taiwan’s fall would trigger a regional “domino effect” endangering US security. In a speech titled “Maintaining the Peaceful and Stable Status Quo Across the Taiwan Strait is in Line with the Shared Interests of Taiwan and the United States,” Chiu said Taiwan’s strategic importance is “closely tied” to US interests. Geopolitically, Taiwan sits in a “core position” in the first island chain — an arc stretching from Japan, through Taiwan and the Philippines, to Borneo, which is shared by
RSS