Low cost long haul narrowbody aircraft: Asian gamechanger?

Japan is poised to become the first market in Asia with significant low cost long haul narrowbody operations following commitments from two Japanese airlines. Jetstar Japan and Peach both plan to begin operating A321neoLRs in 2020, enabling Japan's two largest LCCs to expand in the Japan-Southeast Asia market.

Low cost long haul narrowbody is a relatively small but fast growing segment. In 2019 most of the growth will again be across the Atlantic, as Norwegian puts its first batch of A321neoLRs into service. Norwegian already operates several low cost long haul narrowbody routes in the Europe-US market using 737 MAX 8s that it began operating in 2017.

So far there have been very limited low cost long haul narrowbody operations in Asia. However, there are huge opportunities within the vast Asia Pacific region for LCCs to utilise the improved range of new generation narrowbody aircraft.

A potential A321neoLR order from AirAsia X could be a game changer and bring the low cost long haul narrowbody model to several more markets in Asia Pacific.