The creation of the world's biggest alliance of low-cost airlines may signal that some of Asia's struggling budget carriers are headed for the altar.
The Value Alliance, announced Monday, stretches from Japan to Australia and includes Singapore Airlines Ltd.'s Scoot and Nok Airlines PCL in Thailand. The aim is to sell tickets or even baggage allowance and in-flight meals across the group's eight airlines in a single transaction.
After years of cut-throat competition and financial losses, the coalition may be moving away from the typical budget model, which shuns the cost of international alliances and frequent-flier freebies. The union — unlike cut-rate competition in Europe and the U.S. — could be a step toward mergers in Asia, where low-cost carriers have flooded the world's fastest-growing travel market with plane orders, an analyst said.