Despite a number of US based airlines going bust in the past few months, and all the talk of consolidation and more bankruptcies in Europe, the budget airlines in Asia seem to be doing rather well.

Tiger Airways, based out of Singapore, is expanding into Australia rapidly and there are talks of starting a Korean hub. Air Asia is doing better than ever on regional routes, and now starting long haul budget travel as well. Even though the growth of Indian budget carriers has slowed, they are still doing well, given the state of the industry in the rest of the world. The fact that ever more Asian airports are coming up with budget terminals is testimony to the fact that demand will increase in the near future. So what is it that other airlines can learn from the Asian budget carriers to be more successful?

Garuda Indonesia, the national airline of Indonesia, suffered a setback recently. Indra Setiawan, a former CEO of the airline was sentenced to 12 months in prison for his part in the mid-air killing of a human rights activist. From a branding perspective, this just rubs salts in the already-wounded brand image of Garuda – since it already has one of the worst airline safety track records in Asia. The airline is leaving few options for its customers to form a positive perception.
Probably the only way they can resurrect the brand is to win on price competition, while still remaining full service, and impress the customers – a tough bet, given their track record. May be the new planes they ordered at the Singapore Airshow recently will help them rescue the brand with new routes to US and Europe, at good prices (and of course, the new planes). Airlines – and other worthy brands (Apple?)- must always be vary of coupling themselves too tightly with an individual. Although this can be a huge X-Factor for the brand, which differentiates it with other airlines, it can be a risky proposition.