Business and leisure-class travellers will benefit from a flurry of seat sales on flights to London for the next month as airlines on the sector brace for two new competitors.
Air New Zealand and Hong Kong Oasis Airlines will begin serving the route this month - bringing to 11 the number of daily flights available - and offering return tickets prices below those offered by incumbents such as Cathay Pacific Airways and British Airways.
Oasis last week firmly established itself as the low-price leader, selling all one-way economy class seats on the route for HK$1,000 before taxes.
Air New Zealand, which will launch services on October 28, the day after Oasis, felt no pressure to meet or beat that offer, according to group general manger Ed Sims.
'We are not inclined to follow Oasis's price structure,' Mr Sims said yesterday from Auckland. 'We would prefer to price our tickets against what we see as our real competition, premium carriers such as Cathay and British Airways.'
It nevertheless has lowered the price of its cheapest tickets to London to HK$3,500 return before taxes until October 24 and its 'premium economy' seats to HK$8,700, according to its website.
Cathay this week also slashed standard fares to $4,880 before taxes, if tickets were bought before October 22.
