Low-cost airlines, the pioneers of brief discomfort at bargain prices, have struggled to master long-haul flights. Now one of the world\u2019s most successful budget carriers is considering cut-price business class seats as a way into the Europe-Asia market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
India\u2019s IndiGo, which \ncurrently flies as far as Istanbul, is mapping out an ambitious \nlong-distance network. The airline aims to start one-stop trips further \ninto Europe within six months, Chief Executive Officer Ronojoy Dutta \nsaid in an interview in New Delhi last week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Success could upend a\n long-haul market between Asia and Europe that\u2019s long been the preserve \nof full-service carriers from Singapore Airlines Ltd. and British \nAirways to Emirates Airline and Cathay Pacific Airways. While IndiGo has\n become Asia\u2019s largest low-cost carrier by market value, other no-frills\n rivals that have tried to go long-haul have left a hit-and-miss legacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s\n not clear what IndiGo\u2019s business class would potentially offer or how \nmuch it might cost. The airline must meet other challenges too: Fuel is \ntypically among an airline\u2019s biggest expenses and IndiGo faces rising \noil prices as it considers setting up a long-distance network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Discount\n carrier Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA, which launched services on \nintercontinental routes, has been weighed down by losses after a rapid \nexpansion. AirAsia X Bhd., the Malaysian long-haul, low-cost airline, \nopted to focus on Asia after on-off services to London, although it \nstill flies to a Honolulu, via a stop in Osaka. Both airlines offer \npremium seats with extra legroom, meals and in-flight entertainment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
IndiGo\n has captured almost half the Indian market in just over a decade by \noffering cheap, punctual flights and charging extra for almost anything \nelse. Dutta\u2019s long-haul plans are forcing a product overhaul to help \npassengers endure longer flights and he\u2019s considering everything from \nextra snacks to a brand-new business class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Scoot, the budget \nunit of Singapore Airlines, offers long-haul flights to Athens and \nBerlin. Its \u201cScootbiz\u201d class on Boeing Co. 787 Dreamliner jets provides \nleather seats, more legroom, additional carry-on bags, welcome drinks \nand one additional alcoholic beverage. Business-class flyers on Scoot \nare also able to charge their mobile gadgets on board, and can stream \nmovies on their own devices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
IndiGo wants to operate one-stop \nflights to cities like London from New Delhi, while flying non-stop to \ncountries like China, Vietnam, Myanmar and Russia. It\u2019s in talks with \nAirbus SE to buy a yet-to-be-released longer version of the European \nplanemaker\u2019s newest narrow-body jet. The airline is preparing to place a\n \u201clarge\u201d order, Dutta said.
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Low-cost airlines, the pioneers of brief discomfort at bargain prices, have struggled to master long-haul flights. Now one of the world\u2019s most successful budget carriers is considering cut-price business class seats as a way into the Europe-Asia market. India\u2019s IndiGo, which currently flies as far as Istanbul, is mapping out an ambitious long-distance network. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":61343,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[410],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-61342","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61342","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61342"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61342\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":61344,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61342\/revisions\/61344"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61343"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61342"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61342"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61342"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}