Taiwan's Own Budget Airlines Set to Soar|台湾品牌廉价航空展翅高飞！

　　Taiwan's own budget airlines are about to take flight. Taiwan's leading airline, China Airlines, and TransAsia Airways announced their own low-cost subsidiaries in 2013. Both are expected to start flying to major cities in Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, and China by the end of 2014.

　　In December of 2013, Japan's Vanilla Air joined the heated fight over flights between Taiwan and Japan, offering one-way flights between Taipei and Tokyo for just NT$388. Once taxes at both ends were taken into account, the amount for a round-trip flight between the two cities was just NT$1,888.

　　Offering such irresistible prices is the only way such budget airlines can stake a claim in the international air market. In 2001, budget airlines accounted for just eight percent of the global market. By 2012, that amount had risen to 26 percent, with market share booming particularly in North America, Europe, and Southeast Asia, reaching between 30 and 40 percent.

　　There are already 12 low-cost carriers flying 13 routes to and from Taiwan, covering destinations across Southeast Asia, Northeast Asia, and even into Shanghai. Their presence has put local Taiwanese companies under a level of pressure they cannot afford to ignore. For example, in 2013, TransAsia Airways put their Taipei to Pusan and Taipei to Singapore routes on the chopping block, having been squeezed out by budget airlines. EVA Air and China Airlines, meanwhile, have started offering early-bird and credit card discounts in response to the threat. However, since traditional airlines are full service, which includes luggage handling and meals, they can only discount their flights so much. No matter how brilliant full-service airlines are, they can only go so far in fighting against the advertised ticket prices of budget airlines, which charge extra for all in-flight services.

 

台湾品牌廉价航空展翅高飞！

　　台湾自有品牌的廉价航空即将上路。台湾的航空业龙头中华航空以及复兴航空都在 2013 年宣布成立旗下的廉价航空公司。这两家廉价航空公司预计在 2014 年底展开营运，航点可望遍布东北亚、东南亚以及中国大陆的主要城市。

　　2013 年十二月，日本的香草航空加入了竞争相当激烈的台日飞航大战，并推出台北到东京单程机票只要新台币三百八十八元的票价。若把两地的机场税考虑进去，台北到东京的来回机票也只要一千八百八十八元。

　　提供令消费者难以抗拒的优惠票价，正是廉价航空能攻占国际航空市场的不二法门。2001 年，廉价航空在全球的市占率仅约百分之八。到了 2012 年，这个数字已上升至百分之二十六，尤其是在发展蓬勃的北美、欧洲及东南亚地区，其市占率更高达百分之三十到四十。

　　目前已有十二家廉价航空公司，共十三条航线往返台湾，航点遍及东南亚、东北亚，甚至是上海。它们的出现已对台湾的本土业者在某种程度上形成难以忽视的压力。例如复兴航空在 2013 年就收掉了台北到釜山以及台北到新加坡这两条被廉价航空公司夹击的航线。在此同时，长荣与华航也推出早鸟票和信用卡优惠等方案来应战。然而，由于传统航空公司所提供的是包含行李管理和餐饮等的全套服务，因此他们所能够提供的机票折扣相当有限。不论这些提供全套服务的航空公司有多么高明，也无法和『将所有服务计价贩售』的廉价航空所主打的票价相抗衡。