SINGAPORE : Low-cost carriers Jetstar Asia and Tiger Airways will start operating flights between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur from 1 February.

A price war has begun between the two airlines to promote this new route.

Budget carriers Jetstar and Tiger Airways will start flying passengers from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur from the first of next month following the partial liberalisation of the Singapore-KL air route.

These flights will be in addition to shuttle flights, operated for years now, by national carriers Singapore Airlines and Malaysia Airlines.

To kick off the new flights to KL, both Jetstar and Tiger Airways have come up with various promotions.

Tiger Airways is giving away 15,000 seats free when passengers book online from Monday, 7 January.

After that, travellers will have to fork out close to S$225 for a return ticket, which is still lower than shuttle flights which cost about S$400 both ways.

As for Jetstar, it has been offering seats from 88 Singapore cents since its promotion started on 5 January. It is also offering a buy-one-get-one-free ticket for bookings made from 9 to 11 January.

This extends to flights from 10 January to 3 February to all 14 cities in its network. However, when the promotion ends on 8 January, passengers will need to pay about S$200 for a return ticket.

As of Monday (7 January) though, accessing the Jetstar website was quite a challenge. Jetstar admits that it is likely due to the high volume of traffic.

With such low fares, some expect coach operators to suffer a loss as passengers now have a choice of a faster and cheaper way to get to KL.

However, coach operators are not too worried. They say the effect will not be too big in the long run because taking a flight does not really cut down travelling time significantly.

J Kalaiyarasan, Director, Odyssey Prestige Coaches, said: "You must be two hours ahead of schedule at the airport and the flight duration is about 45 minutes to an hour for destinations like KL and Penang. The travelling time from KLIA to KL city would be around 45 minutes to an hour and is another additional cost for the customer."

Luxury coach operators charge around S$100 for a return ticket and the journey lasts about 5 hours each way. Some buses not only offer refreshments, passengers also get video on demand and free wi-fi services.

Malaysia's low-cost carrier AirAsia has yet to reveal its prices for the Singapore-KL route, but it may announce its strategy later this week.

AirAsia had previously said it could offer return tickets at S$130 for the 45-minute flight. - CNA/ch