North Asia LCC market's 24 LCCs and active start-ups

LCCs arrived in North Asia much later than in the other major sub-regions of Asia Pacific - Southeast Asia, South Asia and Australasia. However, North Asian LCCs have grown rapidly over the past five years, narrowing the gap with their Asian peers.

There are now 24 LCCs based in North Asia, compared to only 11 LCCs five years ago. The North Asian LCC fleet has quadrupled over this period, from 165 aircraft in Apr-2014 to 662 aircraft in Apr-2019.

However, North Asia is still relatively unpenetrated by LCCs; in 2018 LCCs accounted for only 14% of total seat capacity within North Asia.

There are huge opportunities for rapid LCC growth across all the region's markets, from gigantic China and Japan to tiny Mongolia. The existing LCCs are well placed to benefit from the anticipated growth and there is yet another group of several proposed start-ups waiting in the wings, eager to launch services in the promising North Asian market.