Sunday, November 11, 2012

Air Asia, a convenient LCC

I had a trip to Okinawa this weekend.
Actually, I used Low Cost Carrier (LCC) for the first time.

Air Asia Berhad is a one of famous LCCs, originally established in 1993 as Tune Air. And Air Asia Japan began to provide the airline between Narita and Okinawa since this summer. The two-way boarding ticket fee is only 15260 yen ($190), about half of that by major carriers such as Japan Airline.

I have never used LCC ever before. So I was a little anxious about this. It is unlikely that the airplane got troubled, but it might be inconvenient, isn’t it?

The fact was that I had very comfortable travel at all. The crews and attendants were very kind. And the seat was not so narrow.
Indeed there were some differences from major carriers.
The waiting room was far distant from the center of the airport. So I had to spend much time to move.

The waiting room was very simple. I could buy few items in the travel shop.

At the entrance the attendants did not use computers to identify passengers. They checked the boarding tickets with their eyes and marked them with a marking pen, even if there was a information barcode printed on the ticket!

"All Nippon Airline" was printed with the boarding machine.
Perhaps Air Asia Japan borrows a boarding machine from ANA.

Cost cutting is an important matter for not only LCCs but also major carriers. Besides, needs of passengers are various. I do not want superior service when I am boarding airplane alone. So I welcome LCCs. And it is good for everyone to make a choice from many alternatives.

1 comment:

  1. Looks nice! But compared to European LCC, such as Ryanair, the price is still a little expensive.
    http://www.ryanair.com/se
    Stockholm-Budapest 109SEK(about 1300yen)
    I think Japanese LCC will be much cheaper in the future.. In this aspect, there will be a lot of chance of business.

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