SINGAPORE - Budget airline AirAsia said today it had finally won its battle to fly out of Singapore's Changi Airport and will this month begin flights between the island-state and Bangkok from just S$59.99 (RM135).

Long shut out from landing rights at Changi because of its refusal to pay premium airport taxes, AirAsia chief executive Tony Fernandes said a daily service between the Thai capital and Singapore would start on Feb 16.

The pioneering budget airline will run the service through AirAsia Thailand, a joint venture with Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's family-controlled Shin Corp.

An AirAsia statement said a one-way flight between Singapore and Bangkok will start at S$59.99 dollars or 1,300 Thai baht (RM135).

A spokeswoman for the airline told AFP in a statement passengers would have to pay taxes on top of that, without saying how much.

Return tickets from Singapore to Bangkok on the major airlines currently cost between S$245 (RM550) and S$350 (RM786), excluding taxes.

"AirAsia's arrival in Changi Airport Singapore is definitely long awaited and good news to many. We are pleased to be the first low fare airline to commence flights to Singapore," Fernandes said in the statement.

Significant breakthrough

A statement from Changi Airport's operator, the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore, released earlier today confirmed AirAsia had been given approval to fly into the island-state.

"Thai AirAsia should be able to start its services from Bangkok to Singapore, as per its plans," the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore said in an e-mail to AFP .

AirAsia had previously refused to pay S$21 (RM47) in taxes and charges at Changi Airport and had instead chosen to fly into Senai Airport in the neighbouring Malaysian city of Johor Bahru.

However AirAsia failed to lure Singaporeans in large numbers to use the route because of the cost and hassle of travelling in and out of Malaysia.

AirAsia has beaten the likes of Singapore Airlines-linked Tiger Airways and another local upstart, ValuAir, which both intend to begin flights this year, to become the first no-frills carrier to fly out of Changi.

After initially expressing reluctance to accommodate no-frills airlines, Singapore authorities have accepted they are an inevitable part of the industry's future and have moved aggressively recently to capture its share of the market. - AFP