THE competition in the sky has hit the ground: While budget airlines slug it out for a piece of the lucrative Singapore-Kuala Lumpur route, bus operators are feeling the heat too.
At least one is resorting to slashing its fares, while others say they will focus on improving service standards.
The competitive prices that are being dangled by budget carriers plying the route have resulted in business falling between 5 per cent and 30 per cent during the first quarter this year for major bus operators here.
Airfares can sometimes be priced even lower than coach fares. For the first week of this month, Air- Asia offers some all-in, one-way fares at just $28, while coach fares range from $30 to $65.
Last Wednesday, another budget carrier, Firefly, started operating the same route, with promotional fares going for $36.
Transtar, a big player which operates mostly luxury bus services to and from KL, has seen budget airlines impact its business by about 25 per cent.
It plans to slash its fares - now between $35 and $65 - by 10 per cent starting from September.
Its executive director, Mr Sebastian Yap, said: 'Business is going to go from bad to worse. If airlines continue to offer low fares, then it will have a serious impact on our business.'
