GET ready to dig into airline food on the road. Express bus travellers will taste the benefits of competition as Singapore-Kuala Lumpur coach operators prepare for battle with budget airlines.

At least one company - Transtar Travel, which has a fleet of 47 coaches and runs the Singapore-Kuala Lumpur sector 12 times a day - plans to engage airline caterer Singapore Airport Terminal Services to supply all meals for the trip up north.

'For businessmen, time is important, so they may not want to take the bus. But for me, cost matters. So if the bus is cheaper and as the service is getting better all the time, I would take the bus.' Housewife Lim Hwee Yuen

Coming back, meals will be supplied by bistro chain Delifrance, said Transtar executive director Sebastian Yap.

Only two meal choices are available now, but there will be at least five in an expanded menu next month, he added.

Unlike flying budget, meals can be ordered in advance and are included in the fare.

Bus companies are expecting an onslaught on their bottom lines from December, when the cap on the number of low-cost flights between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur is lifted. Knowing that they cannot take on airlines over travel time, they are trying to compete on service quality.

Between them, Tiger Airways, Jetstar Asia and AirAsia now operate four daily Singapore-Kuala Lumpur flights. They entered the market in February as air traffic within the region opened up.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore confirmed, without giving details, that some carriers had applied for extra Singapore-Kuala Lumpur slots. Low-cost carriers would not say how many more flights they were seeking.

The limited number of flights now means that express bus operators have experienced minimal impact, but they are not taking any chances with December coming up.

Food aside, bus firms are improving the training of on-board staff, said Mr Johnny Lim, president of the Express Bus Agencies Association. It has more than 20 members, including big guns like Five Star Tours, Konsortium Express & Tours and Sri Maju Tours & Travel, which account for about 60 per cent of the Singapore-Malaysia express bus traffic.

Every year, more than 1.3 million people take fast coaches to Malaysia. About one in three goes to Kuala Lumpur. An estimated 2.5 million to and fro air trips are made between the two points.

While coach companies expect a 10 per cent to 20 per cent dip in business next year in the worst-case scenario, they do not expect that having more flights will affect them much, given the high fuel surcharges and marginal improvements in travel time.

With surcharges, a return Singapore-Kuala Lumpur air ticket on a low-cost airline could cost $150 to more than $300, and the journey could take about four hours in total.

The road trip takes five to six hours. Average round-trip fares range from as low as $40 to about $130 for a high-end coach. They include the $10 to $20 fuel surcharge bus operators now charge on average because of high oil prices.

Housewife Lim Hwee Yuen, 50, said in Malay: 'For businessmen, time is important, so they may not want to take the bus. But for me, cost matters. So if the bus is cheaper and as the service is getting better all the time, I would take the bus.'

Mr Yap is not taking any chances. He has not ruled out adding more rides.

Mr Lim feels the real storm will come when other destinations in Malaysia, such as Penang and Alor Star in Kedah - also important coach routes - open to the budget boys. Under the Asean liberalisation plan, this will happen eventually.

He said: 'If the Singapore-KL flight takes about four hours in total and going by bus takes five or six, people may not want to fly. But if you have to travel 10 hours to get to Penang by bus and the total travel time is four or five hours, that's when we'll start to feel the real impact.'

karam@sph.com.sg

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