Low Cost Airline Expected To become A Trend

Manado, North Sulawesi, Jan 13 (ANTARA) - The trend of using low cost carrier to travel across ASEAN is expected to continue after the region`s integration into one community, an observer said. "In two or three years ahead, the trend of using low cost carrier to travel to ASEAN countries will still continue," Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Pacific Asia Travel Association Martin J Craigs said here on Friday on the sideline of ASEAN Tourism Forum 2012. Martin lauded Indonesia`s Lion Air and Batavia Air as two airline companies which had already captured the potential the the new trend. Lion Air, he said, had increased the number of its airline while Batavia Air had planned to open a direct flight from Manado (North Sulawesi) to Guangzhou (China). However, Martin criticized tax policy for low cost airline in Indonesia. "For example, a family from England who want to visit Indonesia must pay US$500 for territorial tax," he said. Meanwhile, Secretary General of United Nations for World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Taleb D Rifai suggested ASEAN member countries to improve the region`s connectivity in order to ease off human migration.