AirAsia X long-haul low-cost service to the US will provide an important test for the Asian model

Asia's emerging long-haul low-cost sector is ready to enter the US market in late 2015 with services to Hawaii from Malaysia's AirAsia X and the Philippine's Cebu Pacific. Hawaii will be the initial testing ground but mainland US destinations are possible over the medium- to long-term as new-generation widebody aircraft are placed into service.

Asian long-haul LCCs will bring a new dynamic to the already intensely competitive trans-Pacific market. Asian widebody LCC operators have by some measures the lowest unit costs in the world.

No US airline group has yet established a long-haul LCC but may need to look closely at the model as Asian operators join Australian, European and Latin American long-haul LCCs in serving the US. LCCs have a tiny fraction of the US long-haul market but they are starting to gain traction and Honolulu will almost certainly see a shake up as AirAsia X and Cebu Pacific enter.