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Fasten your seatbelts: Turbulence ahead for budget carriers in Changi Airport

Amid rising costs and fierce competition, low-cost airlines must navigate a turbulent path to stay profitable while keeping fares low

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Tay Peck Gek

Tay Peck Gek

Published Fri, Jul 18, 2025 · 02:00 PM
    • Among the low-cost airlines that have flown into the history books are Valuair and Tigerair, with Jetstar Asia soon to join them.
    • Among the low-cost airlines that have flown into the history books are Valuair and Tigerair, with Jetstar Asia soon to join them. PHOTO: BT FILE

    DeeperDive is a beta AI feature. Refer to full articles for the facts.

    [SINGAPORE] Even as Jetstar Asia braces for its final day of operations on Jul 31, the skies surrounding Changi Airport are set to remain busy.

    Come that day, 31 planes will take off from the runways of Changi Airport, traversing a sliver of the Java Sea before landing in Jakarta, Indonesia, just under two hours later. Twelve of those flights on this popular route will be operated by budget carriers, checks by The Business Times found.

    But amid an increasingly challenging landscape fraught with rising competition and costs, the future for these low-cost airlines – which make up about one-fifth of the carriers operating in Changi Airport – could well be in jeopardy. 

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