A group of Hong Kong investors is seeking to establish a so-called long-haul, low-cost airline to operate to points in Europe and North America.
The planned airline is to be called Oasis Hong Kong Airlines and its air operator's certificate application was submitted early in February to the Hong Kong Civil Aviation Department.
Its chief executive is Stephen Miller, who is well known in Hong Kong aviation circles as the founder of Dragonair, which was launched in the mid-1980s as a competitor to Cathay Pacific Airways. Dragonair was later acquired by the larger carrier.
Miller says he owns a small stake in the planned airline and identifies the main shareholders as Raymond Lee, who is involved in the property market, and Allan Wong, chairman and group chief executive of VTech Holdings, which is a major manufacturer of telephones.
Oasis aims to launch scheduled passenger operations later this year targeting the leisure traveller. Initial plans call for one leased Airbus A340-300 or Boeing 747-400 to be operated, followed by another two within three to four months. European destinations are to be served first, followed by North American destinations.
Miller describes the planned airline as "long-haul, low-cost", saying it will offer a "high-density" economy class product with "some meals and some in-flight entertainment". There will also be a small business class section.
"We'll be starting with a clean sheet of paper so on the cost side we will have none of the baggage [of a traditional airline] such as a frequent-flyer programme or pensions, and we can start lean and mean," he says.
"I feel the timing is right for this. There is a mood among governments to allow a more liberal operation, in particular the Hong Kong government. Sooner or later a budget long-haul operator is going to appear," he says, adding: "We'll be targeting the budget traveller. We are looking at stimulation of the market with low fares. We want to encourage those people who have not travelled before to travel to Europe, and for those in Europe who haven't travelled before to come to Asia."
Miller says European destinations are to be served first, although in the first stage Oasis will not operate on the same routes as established full-service airlines. Plans call for North American destinations to be served later. "We are talking to various European airports," he says. "We will be operating into high-traffic areas, but not necessarily to primary airports."
Another airline is meanwhile being planned that could be based in either Hong Kong or nearby Macau and which aims to operate on regional and long-haul international routes. Its plans are far less developed, however. To be called WOW, the airline's backers include Andrew Pyne, former Cathay Pacific general manager for international affairs and a former air services negotiator for the Hong Kong government.
NICHOLAS IONIDES SINGAPORE
Source: Airline Business
