Can I fly to Australia using low cost airlines?
Flying to Australia with budget airlines
Theoretically, it is possible to fly to Australia using only low cost airlines, but in reality the savings aren’t that big, and it’s debatable whether there are any savings at all once you factor in the amount of time spent waiting around at airports for flights to connect. It’s really only an advisable approach if you wish to take your time getting to Australia and want to see some other destinations on the way.
Sample low cost airline route to Australia
One way of getting to Australia using only budget airlines would be as follows:
Fly to Luxor in Egypt with Thomson Airways.
Then fly from Luxor to Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates with Air Arabia.
From Sharjah, use Air Arabia again to get to Chennai in India.
From Chennai, fly to Singapore with Tiger Airways.
And, finally, fly with either Tiger Airways or Jetstar from Singapore to Perth. Jetstar also flies from Singapore to Darwin.
Planning a trip to Australia using low cost carriers
Of course, planning such a trip would be something of a nightmare. Getting schedules to combine, organising visas and continually having to check in bags would be no fun at all. The chances of the stars being in alignment and this method working out cheaper than using a full fare airline are very slim.
Air Asia X from London Stansted
The obvious exception is using Air Asia X. The Malaysian budget airline flies from London Stansted to Kuala Lumpur, and from there on to Melbourne, The Gold Coast and Perth. That only requires booking two flights (or four for a return journey) and reasonably little hassle.
Full service carrier plus low cost airline route
There is also something to be said for the combination approach. If you can find a cheap deal to Asia using a full service airline (ie. Manchester to Singapore with Singapore Airlines or London to Tokyo using British Airways or Qantas), it may just work out cheaper to buy that and complete the remainder of the journey on a budget airline.
Examples of budget airline flights to Australia
Some possibilities for flying from Asian cities to Australia using budget airlines are as follows:
Singapore to Perth with Jetstar or Tiger Airways.
Bangkok, Thailand to Melbourne with Jetstar.
Denpasar, Bali to Perth, Melbourne and Sydney with Jetstar, or to Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane with Virgin Blue. Air Asia X also operates direct Perth to Denpasar flights.
Osaka or Tokyo in Japan to the Gold Coast with Jetstar.
Tokyo to Cairns with Jetstar.
Phuket, Thailand to Sydney with Jetstar or to Perth with Virgin Blue.
Jakarta, Indonesia to Perth with Jetstar.
Macau to Sydney with Viva Macau.
Cheap flights to Darwin, Northern Territory
The one Australian city where the entry by budget airline approach really pays off is Darwin. No full service airlines offer one-stop flights to the Northern Territory capital from the UK – all go via other Australian cities. This is somewhat pointless, so if you’re heading to Darwin, it’s probably a good idea to just book a flight to a major Asian hub, then continue the journey on a budget airline.
Low cost carrier Jetstar uses Darwin as a hub, and operates direct flights from there to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, Denpasar in Bali and Singapore.
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