HK$888 'as low as we go' for HK-Osaka

Budget carrier Peach Aviation has said its cheapest one-way fare of HK$888 between Hong Kong and Osaka is the best it can offer for now as both cities are expensive to operate in for low-cost players.

'You will find that all the chairs in our offices are of different colours and shapes,' said Shinichi Inoue, chief executive of the Kansai-based budget carrier, on the sidelines of a press conference announcing the new Hong Kong-Osaka flight in the city yesterday.

'We bought all the furniture through auctions on the internet,' as one of the company's many cost-control measures, Inoue said.

The low-cost carrier, formed by All Nippon Airways and Hong Kong-based direct investment fund First Eastern Investment, will launch the route on July 2, its first medium-distance flight.

The four-hour journey will cost HK$888 to HK$3,388 one-way, fuel surcharge and taxes included. Hong Kong passengers can use Kansai as a transit stop to Sapporo, Fukuoka, Nagasaki or Kagosima, which are on Peach's existing network.

Despite its budget tag, Peach is not offering rock-bottom prices on the Hong Kong-Kansai route.

Its round-trip fare starts from HK$1,776, whereas ANA offers a HK$2,810 package that includes airfare and two-night hotel accommodation. However, Peach's price includes a HK$600 fuel surcharge, but the ANA package does not.