No-frills airlines set to take off in Asia-Pacific region

When 32-year-old Zhu Zhaorui wrapped up an 84-day, 14-nation tour in 2002 at a cost of $3,000, many of his Chinese friends were left wondering how he managed to cover his airfares for that amount, let alone other costs.

The answer is low-cost airlines. His total expenditure on airfares was just $1,000.

Low-cost airlines have operated in Western markets for decades, and are now beginning to appear in Asia.